Just My Luck - Chapter Three

Niall’s P.O.V*
“Those two dots there are your children, Mr. Horan.” The doctor told me slowly, though an unsure crease marked his brow.
“Children? What?” I breathed, looking closer at the picture.
“Is Zayn the father?” He said, again ignoring my confusion.
“Bloody hell he isn’t! well…I  don’t know…I don’t even remember…having…” My sentence trailed off as I thought about it. “Wait—How is that even possible!? I’M A MAN!” I cried, still looking at the screen.
“I don’t know, son, but you’re pregnant, I can tell you that.”
“And there’s two in there?!” I exclaimed, even more confused than before.
“No doubt about that. Judging by the picture you’re two weeks away from being four months along.”
“But that’s impossible!” I remarked again. “I don’t even remember doing that with anybody!”
Dr. Chesmund wiped my stomach clean with a wet rag, then handed me my shirt. Without replying to my bewilderment, Dr. Chesmund flung open a few cabinet doors, retrieving a couple bottles of pills and dropping them in a brown bag, scribbling my name on the front with a Sharpie.
“These are for you; take on of each in the morning, as well as before bed. They help you with back pains, morning sickness, as well as swelling. Come back for your monthly check up on June 14.”
“But I have a concert that day.” I whined.
“Well then come before. We can’t risk the health of your children—it’s unnatural for a fetus to grow within a man, much less two, so we have to keep a close eye on you. Understood?” Dr. Chesmund explained. “Unless you want to abort, but it’s a little—“
“NO! No. He’s keeping the baby.” Zayn said.
“Babies,” I said quietly.
“Come on, Nialler. We need to get you out of here and back to the studio.” Zayn said, helping me off the examination table.  “Thank you, Dr. Chesmund.”
We walked quickly to the car and got in before any trouble was caused.
“Seatbelt?” Zayn said before we pulled out of the parking space. I put it on reluctantly. He knew I never wore my seat belt. Zayn drove us back to the studio slowly. Well he was normally a slow driver, but today, he was driving more cautious than usual.
“C’mon, Zayn. You’re going more slow than my grandma on Taco Tuesday.”I said impatiently. Zayn didn’t pay any attention to me, taking his sweet time. I reached my leg over to his side, crushing my foot on top of his and hitting the gas pedal. The car jolted forward and yanked at my seatbelt.
“Niall! Stop that. It’s not safe!”
“Since when did you care about ‘safe’?” I grumbled.
“Since you got pregnant!” He said, as if stating the obvious.
I hated to be reminded of it. “Just don’t tell the boys, okay? Promise to keep a secret.”
“Well it’s going to become obvious pretty soon,” Zayn countered. I sighed heavily.
“I know…I just got other things to worry about.”
“Like what?”
“Like who the father is!” I exclaimed angrily, turning my head to face the window.
“You really have no clue?” Zayn asked, keeping his eyes focused on the road.
“No! I don’t…”
“Do you think maybe it’s one of us?”
“Well I’d expect you guys to remember. You’re the only one that knows and you haven’t ‘fessed up to anything.”
“Well that’s because I’m not, and I wouldn’t ever do that, Niall. You’re one of my best friends.”
“I know. I just wish that I knew positively that someone would be there for me. And for them.”
“You do! You have me. And Lou, Harry, and Liam.”
“What about us? What about One Direction? It’ll bring us down.”
“That may be true, but…”
“But what, Zayn? Maybe I should. Maybe I should just abort.”
“No, Niall! You can’t just kill them. Plus it’s too far into the term. No turning back.”
“But Zayn…I’m a 19 year old pop star.  Male pop star. We can’t just have babies, that’s the women’s job!” Tears had begun to spring to my eyes.
“But now it’s your job. Okay? Sometimes weird things happen for good reasons. So you just gotta wait.”
We pulled up next to the tour bus that was parked in the back of the studio, and Zayn twisted the key out of the ignition, letting the engine cool off.
“Just relax for now, there’s going to be some serious drama, and—“
I let soft, breathless and panicked sobs escape from my mouth, tears rolling down my cheeks and under my chin.
“I don’t can’t to do this. I can’t do this. What’ll they think of me? What will the world think of me?”
“Some people won’t know how to react, and some people will hate, and some people will support you. But that’s how it is now, Niall. Not much has changed.”
“But…but…”
“Niall, you’re like a brother to me. I won’t let anything happen.”
“Don’t tell the others. Please?” I said, wiping the tears with the back of my hand.
“I promise. But you are going to have to tell them sooner or later.”
“…Later?”  I said, grabbing the brown bag full of prescriptions and stepping out of the car.
“Whatever floats your boat.”

                                                      *****

Knowing the cause for the way I felt made me feel very self conscious. I suddenly felt extremely large and gullible during the rest of rehearsal.
“Okay. Let’s call it a day boys. Take a break, rest up, socialize. Just don’t kill yourselves.”
I tried to tiptoe out of the studio before our bodyguard got to ask went on at my appointment.
“Horan!”  Paul called before I could escape. The other four were gathered in a circle, having a water fight. “How are you? Did they figure out your problem?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “Oh yeah, yeah, of course.”
Paul looked at me expectantly. “Well? What’sa matter?”
“Just a…a virus. Gave me some pills. All better now!”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Well that was mighty quick if you asked me. Maybe you should get some rest, Horan.”
“No, I’m fine! Doctors work miracles, don’t they?”
“Okay, then. I’ll call in with your doctor to see if there’s anything else we should do. Go hang out with the boys.”
I grimaced and turned around, going back to the band mates.
“Hey, lads.” I said, picking up my water bottle and undoing the top.
“Are you feeling better now?” Lou asked.
“Oh yeah, lots better.”
“Good enough for a…water fight?” Louis shouted, dousing me with the contents of his water bottle. I was quick to strike back, squirting him back with water. He laughed and tried to get me again, but only a mist of water spluttered me in the face.
“You guys are going to slip. Be careful.” Zayn warned from where he sat in his chair, updating his status on Twitter. Suddenly, everyone else began to pour their water on the top of my head, soaking my shirt and making me shiver.
“So it’s pick on the Leprechaun day?” I said playfully, spitting out the water that had made its way into my mouth. Liam lunged toward me, attempting to squirt me. But he slipped on the water that began to puddle up on the wooden floor. His body collided against my chest, knocking me off my feet and on the floor. The wind flew from my lungs, and my head knocked against the floor. Any other time, I would have gotten up and dusted it off but now, there was something seriously wrong. Spots exploded behind my eyelids as they fluttered shut, and I coughed, specks of blood splattering on Liam’s face. I turned, my head to the side, spitting out a mouthful of iron tasting blood and saliva, coughing raspily and struggling to breath. Are they dead? Did he kill them? I thought, not able to comprehend what was going on around me. Liam, still laying on me, scrambled to get off.
“S-someone call the doctor!” Zayn shouted, rushing to my side and sitting me up. He slammed his hand against my back. I vomited up breakfast, blood gurgling in the back of my throat, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
“They’re going to be fine. Don’t worry, they’re going to be fine.” He said in my ear, continuing to pat me on the back. I continued to cough, slowly losing my grasp on the blurry feel on the things that were going on around me. I just wanted them to be okay.