Sally was finishing cleaning up her office in the medical wing when there was a tentative knock on her door.
“Come in,” She called. She was a little surprised to see her daughter let herself in.
“Hi Jazz,” Sally smiled. “What brings you all the way over here?”
“Um,” Jasmine cracked her knuckles nervously. “I need to ask a favour of you, as a doctor, and not as my mother.”
“Um…OK…” Sally smiled and waited for her daughter to continue.
“But, since nothing can change the fact that you are my mother, you have to promise not to yell at me or freak out.”
Sally was confused. “OK…I promise. Now what do you want?”
Jasmine took a deep breath. “I want you…to give me a uh…” She mumbled something under her breath. “What was that, Jazz? You have to speak up, I didn’t hear you.”
“A pregnancy test, I want a pregnancy test.”
Sally stumbled over a table and dropped all her instruments on the ground. “You’re what?” She screamed.
Jasmine winced. “Mom, can you save the freaking out until after you’ve done the test and have stopped being my doctor?”
Sally grit her teeth and took a long breath. “Ok, but afterwards I’m going to scream at you.”
“Fine,” Jasmine nodded and followed her mother deeper into the medical wing. She sat up on a table and her mother took a few samples and disappeared into the lab. It took her twenty minutes, and it was torture for Jasmine. What was her mom going to say to her if she really was pregnant? What if she wasn’t? Would this give her mom an excuse to give her the ‘don’t have sex before marriage because something like that could happen’ speech? She would probably get it anyway. She swung her feet nervously until finally, her mother came back. Her expression was completely unreadable.
“Well Jasmine,” She sighed, “You were right. You are going to have a baby.”
Jasmine’s heart fell into her stomach and she felt herself welling up with tears.
She could sense her mother’s anger, but it was hidden behind indifference.
“Mom, please don’t tell dad.” Jasmine whispered.
“He has to know, honey, and you won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“I know,” she sniffled. “I just…I need to tell Seth first. Just give me a little time.”
Sally smiled weakly. “OK, honey,” She walked over and gave Jasmine a hug.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Yes,” Sally said with a smile, “I still think I’m pretty young to be a grandmother, but I’ll get over it. I still love you.”
“Thanks mom.”
“It’s the truth. But don’t think I’m not disappointed in you.” Her voice was stern. “I would have thought you knew better than this. And don’t think I’m just bullying you. I’m going to have a talk with Seth as well. It’s as much his fault as it is yours. But maybe you should tell him before I get the chance to.”
Jasmine nodded. “He’s in the gym, I saw him on the way here. I’ll tell him now, OK?”
“There’s a good girl. At least you’re taking responsibility. I’m glad you came to me.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Jasmine admitted. “Helen talked me into it. She said that you were probably the only doctor in the entire country who wouldn’t transfer AIDS to me through their equipment.”
Sally managed a weak laugh, and so did Jasmine. “So Helen knows about this too, does she?” Jasmine nodded, “Thanks mom,” She said as she slid off the bed and left the room. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach even more which each step she took. She took slow, purposeful steps towards the gym.
She heard the people inside, and she almost turned and ran. But no, Seth deserved to know. He needed to know as much as she did. He wasn’t getting out of this.
She opened the door and looked directly at Seth. He saw her and smiled and waved, but Jasmine was not in a smiling mood.
“Seth, I need to talk to you.” She said.
“OK, Jazz,” He called back. “I’ll be right there.”
“NO!” she growled. “You’ll come here, NOW!”
Seth gulped and nodded. He dropped what he was doing and walked over to her.
“Whoa, what’s up with her?” Jeff wondered.
“Who knows, she’s been weird all week.” Jason shrugged. The two turned back to their game. “Damn, now we’re short a player.” Jeff cursed. He looked over at David, who was on the phone, again.
“Hey Dave! Get off the phone and come play ball with us!” Jeff called. David shook his head and went back to talking with Alexis.
“He spends like every waking hour talking to that girl.” Jason groaned. “Yeah,” Jeff snorted.
“That poor guy is so whipped.”
~~
“So what’s up, Jazz?” Seth asked with a grin as he left. He tried to give her a kiss but she jerked away.
“What’s wrong?” He wondered. He saw the tears building in her eyes. Something was definitely wrong; he’d never seen Jasmine cry like that before.
“Can we go somewhere private to talk?”
“Sure…we can go to the quad if you want, or…”
She shook her head, “No, I want to get out of the base.”
“OK,” He shrugged. They headed for the exit together.
As they got into the colony and were walking, Jasmine was unusually quiet. She was sending out bad vibes and they were giving Seth the creeps. They went to a nearly empty café and sat down.
“So, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Seth, I have something very important to tell you and…”
Seth was getting nervous. “Hey, whatever it is, I’m sure we can deal with it.”
She nodded, “Seth, I’m pregnant.”
Seth started choking. “Oh no! Seth!” She gasped and slapped his back until he could breathe again. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that please?”
“I’m going to have a baby, your baby.”
“A-Are you sure?” He stuttered.
She nodded solemnly. “My mother gave me some tests earlier.”
“You mother knows?!”
“Yeah,”
“What about, um…Wufei?”
She shook her head. “I wanted to tell you first before the entire world knows.”
“Oh…shit…” He cursed several times and banged his head on the table. “Just give me a second to let this all out.” He started screaming curses and banging his head until they were asked to leave.
“Don’t worry Jazz,” He said as they headed back to the base. “I’ll um…I’ll take care of you.”
Jasmine sighed; Seth just wanted to take care of everybody.
“Don’t put this all on you Seth, there are a lot of people who will be willing to help us. My father included.”
“I’m not sure about that…”
“Oh, he’ll help out if I ask him to.” She said. “He will probably just kill you.”
Seth gulped and draped his arm across her shoulders. “I hope not, have you thought of names yet?” Jasmine laughed, it was the worst attempt at humour she had ever come across, but it worked, only because it was so bad.
~~~
“Well Helen, it looks like you’ve got your wish.” Noin sighed as she let herself into the girls’ dorm where Helen was resting.
“Saber is now being officially moved to a pilot status.”
“Really?” Helen smiled. “That’s good, we need more good pilots like him.” She lay back down at stared at the ceiling.
“Helen, are you alright?” Noin wondered.
“Great,” Helen moaned, “Nothing serious, just feeling a little tired.”
Noin eyed her, “That time again, is it?”
Helen didn’t answer, so Noin took it as a ‘yes’ and left her alone.
After a few minutes, Helen forced herself to sit up. She needed to do something. She decided to go down to the gym and find something that would keep her mind occupied.
~
“Helen!” Jeff cried happily as Helen walked in. “I’m glad you’re here, you can take Seth’s place in our game.”
“Where did he go?” Helen wondered.
They shrugged, “Jazz came by and dragged him away.” Jeff said, “She seemed like she was in a bad mood.”
Helen gulped, Jasmine was going to see her mother earlier. If she wanted to talk to Seth so badly, that probably meant…
“Helen, hello…” Jason waved his hand in front of her face. “Are you gonna play or not?”
“Huh? Oh sure, I’ll play.” But her thoughts were not on the game, they were on Jazz. Did this mean they would lose a Gundam pilot for a while? She shrugged off her thoughts and tried to focus on the game.
She and Jeff won, while Jason and some other rookie were left disappointed.
“Way to go Helen!” Jeff cheered. He moved to give her a high five, but Helen made no move to return it. Jeff shrugged it off and proceeded to laugh at Jason for losing.
David glanced at them as he passed.
“So you’re finally off the phone, are ya Davie boy? Too bad, you missed the game.”
“I don’t mind,” David said calmly.
“Right,” Jason rolled his eyes, “You just had to talk to your girlfriend, didn’t you?”
“So?” David said defensively. Jason and Jeff both laughed, while Helen only shook her head. “I’ve got to go guys,” She said apologetically, “I have some things to take care of.” She turned to leave.
“I’ll come with you!” Jeff cried as he raced after her.
Jason watched this little scene with amusement. He had tried his luck with Helen before, but she wasn’t interested at all. It looked like Jeff was trying to do the same thing. He laughed; he would have to give Jeff a few tips about Helen.
~
“Why are you following me, Jeff?” Helen sighed.
“I uh…I thought maybe we could go out and celebrate.” He said tentatively.
“Celebrate what?”
“That we won!”
Helen snorted, “It was just a game, Jeff.”
“I know but…”
“But…” She urged.
“But I…” He looked away as he tried to come up with the right words. Helen stopped and watched him, slightly amused.
“I want to spend some time with you.”
“Is that so?” She raised her eyebrow at him.
“Y-yeah…”
“Well, if that’s the case, you could just say so.”
“Wha-what!”
“You want a date, right?” She said coolly.
“Well…I guess…”
Helen laughed, “There’s a way to get a girl to go out with you, you know.”
“Yeah…and uh…how would I do that, exactly?” He wondered.
Helen held in her giggles, “Well…” She said thoughtfully. “First, you would have to get my attention…flowers usually work, or candy, but that’s kind of boring…”
“Candy, what kind?”
“Chocolate, and only chocolate.” She stated firmly, “Then you must put some effort into asking me…”
“Ok…”
“And it might be nice if you planned something that related to my interests.”
“Got it, so uh…what are you interested in?”
Helen did laugh this time. “Oh no, I’m not going to make it that easy. You’ll have to figure it out.” She turned and continued walking. Jeff remained behind, “But wait a minute…Helen! I’m not done yet!”
“Bye Jeff!” She called as she disappeared. Jeff sighed and headed off his own way.
~~
Saber happened to be walking nearby when he heard the conversation between Helen and Jeff. He despised Jeff and his forwardness. And his idiotic, ‘ignorant’ routine appalled him. Even worse was that Helen was going for it. He hoped she was just teasing him, she seemed too smart to get involved in someone like Jeff, wasn’t she?
Muttering in distaste, Saber stormed off. He had thought of Helen as an intelligent person until recently. Why did smart girls always end up with morons like Jeff? He didn’t understand women, and he probably never would. To him, they were the most complicated creatures on the face of the earth.
~~~
David stepped up to the door of his girlfriend’s house and smiled. He could hear Alexis in the kitchen. He let himself in the open door and walked down the hall. He found her easily, and she smiled at him.
“Tea, David?” She asked.
David nodded and sat down in a chair at the table. Alexis served him and sat down across from him.
“David…” She said suddenly. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Yes? What is it? You know you can tell me anything…” David replied.
“Well, David, I’m…I’m a man…” (1)
David’s jaw dropped to the floor and he watched in horror as his girlfriend pulled off the cherry-coloured wig and a mask to reveal...a horrible midget with too much facial hair and a demented face.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you, David,” Her voice had changed as well. It was deep and scratchy, a man’s voice…
David woke up screaming. “NO! ALEXIS! YOU ARE NOT A MAN!” He jumped from his bed and dashed out of the dorm room, screaming as he ran down the hall. “She is not a man! Alexis is not a man!” David cried as he bolted past the girls’ dorm.
Th guys and girls all poked their heads out of their dorm room doors and watched him run down the hall, waving his arms and screaming.
“SHE IS NOT A MAN!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Wow…it finally happened,” Jasmine said in awe. “David snapped,”
“David!” Jason gasped as David ran into him. David stumbled for a moment then got back up and grabbed Jason’s face. “She is not a man, do you hear me? Alexis is not a man!”
Jason blinked,
“She is not a man, you hear? She’s not!” He shook Jason violently.
“Ok! Ok! I hear ya!” Jason blinked, staring at David strangely. David let go of him and ran past him, still screaming about how Alexis was not a man. They could still hear his voice echoing through the halls as he disappeared around the corner.
“What the hell was that…?”
~~~
“I’ve got it!” Jeff cried enthusiastically, when he found Helen in the cafeteria. “I’ve got chocolate, flowers, and the perfect date.”
“Oh really…?” Helen said as she took the box of chocolate from his hands and opened it eagerly.
“So where are we going then?”
“To a wrestling match.”
Helen frowned.
“And, I’ve got roses! Red ones.”
“Oh, Jeff,” Helen sighed, “Roses are terrible for a first date, especially red ones. And the wrestling match…maybe later, but it doesn’t really allow for a lot of time to get to know each other, does it?”
“So that’s a no?” He frowned.
“Try again…”
“Oh…” He whined. “Do I have to get more chocolate?”
Helen nodded. Jeff dropped his head and left. He would get this right if it killed him!
“You want some chocolate, Indy?” Helen asked after Jeff was gone, offering the box to the girl sitting across from her. Indigo shook her head, but took one anyway.
“Helen!” Jasmine gasped. “You are just using him, aren’t you?”
“So?” Helen retorted.
Jasmine grinned, “A woman after my own heart.”
They both laughed.
~~
“Delphiniums!” Jeff declared happily, holding up the six foots stalks.
“They’re beautiful,”
Jeff beamed,
“But a little big, don’t you think?”
His face fell.
“Can’t you even get the flowers right?”
“What about the movies?” He said hopefully.
“Boring,”
~~
“I’ve got it this time! Sunflowers!”
“Still too big, but you’re getting warmer.”
“How so?”
“I dunno…”
“Please?” He begged.
“Well, the colour’s right.” She offered.
“Yes! Marigolds?”
She shook her head distastefully. “Not roses I guess, and um…daffodils?”
Helen grinned and nodded.
“Oh! I am good! Now I just need to figure out something to do.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“Well, good luck,” She closed the door in his face.
“Hey!”
~
“Dancing?”
“No,”
~
“Dinner?”
“No,”
~
“A walk,”
There was a pause this time. “I don’t think so.”
~
Jeff grinned broadly, “You’ll love this…a fair…”
She seemed to be thinking about it,
“Followed by ice cream, and an outdoor play in the park.”
Helen smiled, “Sounds good,”
“Yeah!” Jeff cheered and jumped up and down in excitement.
“Wait a minute,”
“What?”
“You still haven’t asked me yet.” The door greeted him once again.
“Damn!”
~~
Helen was just stepping out of her dorm room in the morning, when a single daffodil fell from above her onto a small box of Belgian chocolates.
“Ooh, he’s out done himself,” She said as she picked them up. “But…there’s only one flower.” She frowned. She picked up the card. It read: Check the cafeteria.
Helen walked down to the cafeteria and sure enough, there was another flower with a note waiting for her. It told her to go to the gym. She found yet another flower. The notes led her from the dorms, to the lounge, the conference room, the control room, the quad, and finally back to her room. When she got back to her room, she was holding seven daffodils. Jeff stood in front of her door waiting.
She laughed at him, “Very creative,” she rewarded him.
“Now you have to go out with me.” He sounded like a little kid as he handed her the final flower.
“I guess I do,” She sighed.
“Really?” Jeff gasped, “You mean it?”
She nodded and Jeff freaked out again. He jumped up and down like and idiot.
“But…not if you keep acting like that.” She warned. Jeff stopped immediately. “Well then, let’s go!”
“Right now?”
“Of course right now!” Jeff laughed.
“But…I’m not dressed.” She protested. “If we don’t go now, we won’t have enough time to do everything.” He pouted.
“I’m changing out of my uniform first.” She said firmly.
“Fine,” Jeff sighed. “But then, you’re mine for the rest of the afternoon!”
But she was already back inside her room.
