Baby Mama Drama {Jason, Cleo, Jamie}

[JOEY ROOKS]

All this was was a big giant clusterfuck, because she couldn’t keep her trap shut. Of course Jamie had to be in that chatroom, of course. Because apparently, the higher being hated her and wanted her to suffer. And where did he get off thinking that he was completely free to suddenly try and play dad of the year? She didn’t get the full story, but it sounded like he was in a wheelchair because he went back to those thugs. He could have turned them in, he could have ran away. And yet somehow, he was still there. Still involved. Part of her wondered if he even wanted to get away. Joey was missing her normal method of thinking, because the baby inside of her was screwing up all her thoughts, and all her emotions, and making things ten times worse.

Jamie wasn’t supposed to have ever found out about this. And now he did. Everything felt cold, and numb to Joey, except the faint flutter in her stomach that the baby did every time Joey got stressed. Almost like it was reminding her that she wasn’t entirely alone, that she could get through it. Her hand idly pressed against the bump, while her brows furrowed. Calm. Breathe. Right, breathe. She was Joey Rooks. She could do this, she could handle it. Right. What she needed was a smoke, right then and there. That was going to be the first thing she did after she had the baby. Get high out of her fucking mind, down a pack of cigarettes, and try to forget for just a few minutes.

Instead, she made her way to the kitchen, banging around for the pants while she began to make the brownies. Only really making them, because she remembered Cleo from conversations, and remembered the girl had a sweet tooth. After all Cleo and Jason weren’t really to blame, but Jamie and Joey needed someone in their corners. Cleo was in his, Jason was in hers. It wasn’t a war, but they both would need moral support on this. Luckily, Joey was a tough cookie, even with the boosted hormones and the situation. She had a gun pressed to her head once, and punched in the face and she didn’t cry. She had been threatened to be turned onto the streets as some teeny hooker—that only made her mad. She had been told to run, while listening to the sounds of Jamie have the shit beat out of him. She cried then, but she hadn’t ran. She hid in a nearby alley, and called the police. Joey was tough, there was no doubt about it.

She could get through this, but the baby inside was doing her darn best to make Joey finally crack, and if she did—she didn’t want Jamie trying to console her. Adored Jamie she did, but they weren’t fit to be parents. He couldn’t be, and she wouldn’t be. She also wasn’t going to be the one to rip him and Jemissa apart because of their indiscretion. No, by the time Jamie and Cleo left—nothing would have changed. At least, that’s what Joey was hoping.

Outfit

[JASON MEGALOS]

There was definitely going to be some tension occurring in this visit, Jason could tell. After just chatting with Joey and what he assumed were some of her other friends, there was now some awkward war going on between Joey and the father of her baby. Which, Jason could happily say, he had not harmed when he'd accidentally smashed into Joey. The little girl inside his new friend's belly was still healthy.


But that wasn't to say that Joey's emotions right now were as healthy. She seemed pretty upset when Jason had logged off the chat just a little earlier, after Joey had invited him over to her dorm. He had fulfilled his promise, grabbing soda for himself and the others, and grape juice for Joey (because he had heard that caffeine was a no-no when you were pregnant). He hoped that this Cleo and Jamie liked Coca-Cola products.


Maybe it was a bad idea, getting in the middle of this. But Joey had invited him, and Jason was actually a little worried for her. Both she and this Jamie kid had seemed really upset, but then again Joey was hormonal. And this Jamie was on pain medications. At least, Jason thought that was the case. The guy was in a wheelchair, and it appeared to be a recent thing. So he had to be taking something for the pain, right?


Oh, Jason was tempted to just text Joey back -- she'd texted to let him know the door was open and to let himself in -- and say that he had just remembered he had an appointment or some other sort of circumstance that would prevent him from coming to her dorm. But then Jason thought of how angry she'd been. No, she needed him there, if not for company, then for her own safety. And the baby's.


The baby. Jason had to sigh when he thought about that little girl in Joey's belly. The little girl who, no matter how hard he tried, ended up reminding him about his own sister. Joey was going to give her daughter up for adoption. Sure, he knew that Joey wasn't going to just let the foster system take its course with her daughter. She'd already talked about finding the right family for her baby, and how she wanted a gay couple to adopt her. Jason remembered Joey saying that her baby would be the best-dressed kid on the block if that happened.


But still. Giving the baby up for adoption sort of hit him too close to home, even if he hadn't been the one who was adopted. Hopefully, if Joey did go through with having her baby adopted, she at least would choose an open adoption. That way, her little girl wouldn't have to one day look for her mother.


Jason was now climbing the stairs to Joey's dorm, knocking on the door before letting himself in. "Joey?" he called, closing the door behind him and looking around the girl's dorm. "It's me, Jason! I'm here. And I brought grape juice!"

[CLEO EVERETT]

Cleo couldn’t figure out why she was so angry.

It might have been that she felt totally out of the loop. Cleo liked understanding things. She liked being in on the secret or the inside joke. She liked knowing what was going on. That was probably why she’d sat there at her desk, angry and confused and angry that she was confused. Yeah, she’d been to see Jamie and he’d sort of explained what had happened. At least she knew he’d been hurt but he was getting better now. It seemed he’d been keeping whatever had happened a secret from this Joey girl.

And, of course, the first time Cleo did ever actually talk to Joey had to be this time. She’d only heard about the short red head from word of mouth. Jamie and Jemissa had mentioned Joey (wow, she knew a lot of people whose names started with a J) and Cleo had always thought she sounded fine. There didn’t seem to be anything to dislike about her. And there still wasn’t. Joey seemed nice. And witty. And like she’d be a good friend. It was just that Cleo still wasn’t in the loop because the least Jamie could have done was tell her that he was… was what? More-than-friends with Joey? Would Cleo have even wanted to know? … Well, yeah, she told Jamie everything!

It was why she’d taken awhile getting ready. She kind of stomped around the apartment, grabbing things she’d need or that were just laying around where they weren’t supposed to be because she was angry and she didn’t want to deal with things not being where they were supposed to be. Finally, she calmed down enough to text Jamie, letting him know she was on her way. Cleo wasn’t even sure if his wheelchair would fit in her car – folded up or not. They would just have to see.

It actually all worked out pretty well. Cleo was gripping the steering wheel pretty tightly for two reasons. One) she was still angry and confused and angry that she was confused. Two) She was going over to somebody’s apartment, somebody she didn’t really know, where that somebody and the boy in her car might either get in a huge fight and just hang around all awkward and tense. Cleo was just kind of hoping she could sit somewhere and nibble on brownies and candy (she’d brought gummy worms and Reese’s pieces, of course). Cleo hadn’t been around a pregnant woman since before Kayden had left. All Cleo really remembered of it was the cravings and not being able to lean over to grab stuff that had been dropped.

Getting the wheelchair out had taken more time but she and Jamie were soon on their way to Joey’s apartment. Cleo had insisted on pushing the wheelchair – she just really wanted to and still kind of needed something to hold onto. “Are you feeling alright?” Cleo asked as they headed down the hall, worried that he might have left his dorm without taking any pain medication so he could think more clearly. He’d seemed all out of sorts in the chat room. Stopping in front of the door, Cleo left the knocking to Jamie since he was a bit closer and, really, he was the whole reason she was even here.

notes; ugh what is this mess of a post
outfit; here

[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

Jamie wished he could pace. If anything right now, it would help him think. Instead he was rolling around trying to get all of his clothes on before his arm got tired. When he finally was dressed he stopped in front of a mirror and grimaced. All the scratches and brushes on his face had finally healed up but the casts. As if the wheel chair didn’t make him look pathetic to begin with. He didn’t want anyone to feel bad for him when he got there. Especially Joey. After all, casts and wheelchairs went away. Babies didn’t.

Babies.

A baby.

Jamie was a father.

It was like some sick dream. Not that he had a child but... that Joey hated him for it. He understood in a way. He was a dumbass for not being safe. Also, who wanted a thug as a dad? Jamie sighed and looked away. God, he was just... He couldn’t even finish the sentence. He turned around slowly and looked at the posted note on his laptop. It was the number for the anonymous tip hotline. Would that really work? He hadn’t even thought to call them. He just waited for the guys to tell him to come back and decided that when they did , he would run. But was running really going to fix things? It was tempting before but now he had a daughter. He was responsible for her as much as Joey.

His mother didn’t think she was responsible for him. Hell, his dad liked drugs more than him. But Jamie didn’t want to be that guy. Even if Joey wanted him to be. Why did she hate him so much for wanting to help?

Before he could think about it anymore there was a knock on his door. He quickly wheeled up to answer it. He opened it and gave Cleo one of the lamest fake smiles ever. (Like he could even think to smile right now) She insisted one helping him get in the car and get out of the car and then push her. Jamie could wheel himself but he decided not to argue with her. Cleo seemed really tense. He was too but... for fucks sake he just found out he was a baby daddy. Maybe he should have called his dad to come get him. He would expect this. Oh wait, that was a terrible idea. Nobody but Cleo had ever met his dad and he’d like to keep it that way.

Jamie looked at her and just shrugged. “Physically, I’m okay. Emotionally... I don’t know. Are you sure you want to come in? I mean I think I’m okay with her not trying to kill me. I already look pathetic enough in this wheelchair,” he said with a deadpan. He REALLY didn’t want to put Cleo through this. If she wanted to get up and leave as soon as Jamie and Joey started talking, he wouldn’t say a word. She didn’t have to do this. If anything, he owed her already for so much. He could do so much more for everyone these days. But being in a wheelchair was worthless. Everyone wanted to help you. Gosh, being permanently handicapped must suck.

Jamie took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Joey?” he called.

[JOEY ROOKS]

If only Joey could get inside of Jamie’s head for a moment. Joey didn’t hate him, she couldn’t. There was no way that she could, it didn’t mean she couldn’t be upset with him. But she wasn’t upset over the pregnancy; it hadn’t been his fault entirely. However, if he was still in that sort of lifestyle, she didn’t want to involve herself—if only for the fact that for the next four to five months, she had to protect what was inside of her. On any other day, Joey would have been ready to face down the wolves. But one wrong step, one bad injury could risk her and the baby. And despite the possibilities Joey had been wondering about, she still loved the baby. It was hard not to. She did however, nearly drop the brownie pan when she heard a voice in the livingroom. “In the kitchen.” She called back, pushing the pan into the oven.

Joey had always been that way, a person that made fast friends. There was no awkward phase—either Joey liked you, or she didn’t. She pushed the oven shut, and looked at Jason for a moment, and sucked in a breath, then smiled. “Thanks, uhm—you know. I kinda…I kinda panicked when I invited you over. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be here, you know? I mean, if you want to, you’re more than welcome. And if this get a little hinky, you can use Darius’ computer in his room or mine. I just…don’t want you to feel like I’ve forced you into the frontlines of a possible baby-mama-drama incident.” Her brows furrowed over her dark green eyes. Maybe it was just being lonely that was doing it to her. Making her want people to be around.

Her shoulders slumped for a moment, before she leaned backwards against the stove—the heat of the oven doing a strange miracle for the pressure on her back. “I have really no idea what I’m doing.” She rubbed her face, “I really shouldn’t have dragged…” She stopped when she heard the knock on the door. Leave it to Jamie to get here quick—then again he was just on the other side of the campus. Joey closed her eyes, and counted to five, and straightened up, before shaking her head, “Don’t feel like you have to stay if you don’t want to, alright?” Passing Jason, she used her tiny hand to give his arm a squeeze, “And thank you. Feel free to raid the fridge or the cabinets if you want.” Normalcy. Normal. She could do this.

No she couldn’t. She couldn’t go sprinting for the door, and normally she would have greeted anyone at the door with a grin and a happy chirp. But when she opened the door, and was greeted by Jamie in a wheelchair, she completely stopped for a moment. That looked…much, much worse than it seemed. She tore her eyes away from Jamie in the chair, and up at the girl behind him with round eyes, though her face was white as a sheet, “You must be Cleo,” She said hoarsely, then pushed an apologetic smile on her face, “Like I just told Jason, you don’t have to stick around if it gets too weird. I’ve got a computer in my room, so does Darius if you want an escape. Help yourself to the kitchen.” She murmured, before remembering to move from the doorway. She tilted her head down, her ponytail resting on the back of her neck while her other hand pressed against her stomach, trying to calm the kicking. It seemed the baby picked up on Joey’s heart rate. Every day she was finding something new. She shook her head, and looked up with a grin, forcing herself to feel a bit normal. “Cleo, Jamie, that’s my friend Jason. Jason, this is Cleo and Jamie. Though it doesn’t feel right to introduce Cleo, since I’m just meeting her myself. But I mean, it’s polite right? You don’t think it was terribly rude, do you, Cleo?” Almost, almost a Joey-esque ramble. Though this was brought on by sheer nerves, instead of Joey-ness.

Outfit

[JASON MEGALOS]

So the Joey Jason had seen during the online chat was definitely not present at the moment. The online Joey had been calm (ish), and quite angry. Not this suddenly timid young woman who looked more like a little girl than ever. "Um, thanks," he said as he put the sodas and juice on the counter, unloading them from the bags as Joey walked past him to answer the door. Well, waddled past him. There wasn't really any walking to it, was there?


Once he heard Joey greeting her new guests, he walked out to the living room again to see a redheaded girl (more redheads?) pushing a guy in a wheelchair. So that was Jamie. Immediately, Jason started to wonder if perhaps it had been a good idea to come here. Sure, Joey needed the moral support. And he had also come to make sure that Joey didn't get hurt and to protect her. But what could this guy do to her? Run her over?


Immediately, Jason felt guilty for his thoughts. He didn't know this Jamie's situation for being in a wheelchair, and it was wrong to assume that he was a bad guy just by looks alone. "Hey there," he greeted the two newcomers with a nervous smile, offering a hand to both as introductions were made. "Um, like Joey said, I'm Jason. Nice to actually meet you face to face."


Well, sort of. Jason was at least a good half-a-foot taller than this Cleo girl, and with Jamie sitting down, Jason was practically a giant. Nervously, the taller fellow stuck his hands into his pockets, looking around at everyone as he waited for someone to say something. Unable to withstand the silence, though, he ended up breaking it himself. "Umm, would anyone want me to get them a drink? I brought over some soda, uh, Coke and Sprite. And then there's grape juice for you, Joey."


Way to be the host-ish person when it wasn't your home. But what else was Jason going to do? He didn't know anyone but Joey, and even then he didn't know her that well. Heck, they'd met because he'd plowed her down on the street after walking home from the zoo one day. Not exactly your average meeting.

[CLEO EVERETT]

Cleo breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t have to spend this time worrying about whether or not Jamie was in pain. It wasn’t like she had any pain meds on her in case he really needed them. How useless would she feel then? She nodded, “yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go through with this. Cleo had never dealt with serious situations before. If she couldn’t handle her own big deal talks, how could she handle anybody else’s? The corners of Cleo’s lips turned down; she wished more than ever now that she had some sort of magic so she could make this – everything – all better.

Cleo felt like they’d been standing in the hall for hours when really, it only took a few seconds for Joey to answer. She was a lot shorter than Cleo had imagined, even though Joey had said how tall she was (or wasn’t, maybe, in this case?) in the chat room. Joey looked very pale and for a moment, all Cleo wanted to do was hug her. However, Joey plastered on a smile and started talking. The mention of Jason had Cleo wondering if he was here yet or if she and Jamie had gotten to the dorm first. Oh, question answered by super tall guy walking into view. Cleo shook his hand, smiling as best she could with how tense she was, “pleasure to meet you.”

Cleo shook her head, the grin becoming less forced. “It’s perfectly alright, Joey. Thank you.” She headed into the room, glancing around quickly. Like every other dorm she’d been in though with, of course, the personal touches that each roommate put into it. “Soda. That would be great.” She said, before remembering she’d brought snacks as well. “I’ve, uh… got some candy. It’s really all I ever have. I hope that’s okay.” Was there some rule against pregnant women eating candy? She’d convinced Kayden that there was nothing wrong with pastries but for all she knew, sugar was bad for a pregnancy.

Cleo let go of Jamie’s wheelchair then and stepped back, so he could do whatever he wanted. Cleo made her way to the kitchen, already craving something sweet. Tugging on a strand of her hair, Cleo paused, feeling suddenly that she was being very rude and intrusive right now. That was just great.

notes; ugh what is this mess of a post
outfit; here

[JAMIE SHOEMAKER]

Oh fuck, Joey’s face. He couldn’t handle it. Jamie looked down at the floor and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. As much as he wanted to do this in person, maybe it would have been better over the phone. His whole wheelchair predicament could of like... well it did stress Joey out. That wasn’t good for the baby. His baby. Or it wasn’t his... she was going to give it up for adoption. Jamie wasn’t really old enough to be a parent and surely not in the right situation right now. He could get there though. He wondered if Joey really wanted to give her up or if she just felt like she had no choice.

Why was he wondering when he could just ask her?!? Why could he not even meet her eyes? Jamie’s fake smile got even worse when he shook hands with Jason. The dude looked so out of place among the three of them. Jamie had never been tall but he was even more short in the wheelchair. Even the doctor joked about how he thought about adding some height to his legs during surgery. Jamie didn’t mind it much really. Short was just another thing he was. What he wasn’t was a shy person.

Jamie forced himself to look up at Joey after Cleo left to no doubt eat some of the brownies he smelled cooking. Oh, rambling Joey. He took a deep breath and looked into those pretty eyes of hers. They looked so stressed and nervous. It’s almost as though they were sharing the same feelings... well expect Jamie didn’t feel angry, just ashamed. He was a thug again and a father. Those two shouldn’t got together but stereotypically they did. He just wanted to tug on her hand and stand up and hug her. He’d do it even if the doctor said not to.

“Hey Joey,” he said or meant to say. It mostly came out a pathetic croak. That’s how he felt right then. Pathetic.

notes: I wanna cry. ;-;

[JOEY ROOKS]

All over again, Joey was feeling guilty on account of Jason and Cleo. They shouldn’t have been dragged into her and Jamie’s dirty laundry—granted Jamie probably needed the help getting here, but she was fine. She didn’t need to drag Jason into this; yet she’d feel like a massive asshole if she just kicked him out now. Selfish as it was, his presence helped her calm down just a bit. There was something to be said about Joey’s ability to make good friends right off the bat. She was pulled out of her thoughts while she looked down at Jamie. Joey wanted to snub him, to be angry with him, but that wasn’t in her nature and she hated herself for it. “Hey.” She said, almost as hoarsely.

They were alone for just that minute, “Hey, can you check the brownies while you’re in there?” Joey called to the kitchen, before looking back at Jamie. She didn’t want to be alone in the room with him. How had it gone from wanting to be with Jamie 24/7, to the point of waiting outside of his door for him to come home—to suddenly wanting to curl up and hide away from him. She had to make peace with him somehow; there had to be some sort of a resolution. Joey had decided on what was going to happen, it was her own choice. But Jamie had the right to know what was going to happen.

It all started with fixing things. With her left hand pressed against the round bulge of her stomach, she reached out with the right to grab his left hand, and pressed it against her stomach, where there was a slight flinch in her gut. “She’s a pain in my ribs.” She couldn’t look him in the eye, she couldn’t even smile. It felt like if she were to smile, her entire face would crack and shatter. When she felt the fluttering stop, she let go of Jamie’s hand and made her way to the couch, sitting slowly and carefully. Her expression hardened a bit as she really took in his appearance. “So, are you going to tell me what happened? Or is that just a between you and Jem thing?” The words had a little more bite than she actually intended them to, and it caused her to sigh in frustration, and glance out the sliding glass door of the dorm.

Where the hell was Darius to lighten the mood when she needed it?

Outfit