Love is a Miracle Ch. 03

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Serenity complained as Josie and their friend Leslie led her into a frat house.

"You've been so blue and glum since Gavin left, and while he is a major hottie, you need to have a social life," Josie said.

"But not a frat party!" Serenity protested, her stomach churning.

"Still have that stomach flu?" Leslie asked. Serenity nodded as one of the brothers walked up to them. "Serenity, Josie, this is my brother Chris," Leslie introduced. Chris kissed Serenity's and Josie's hands.

"It is a pleasure to be in the company of such beautiful women." Chris turned to Serenity. "Would you like to dance?" Chris asked. Reluctantly, Serenity agreed and allowed Chris to pull her to the crowded makeshift dance floor.

The next thing Serenity knew, she was waking up in Chris' room, on his bed, her skirt laying in a chair by the bed. She sat up with a gasp. "Good, you're awake. How do you feel?" Chris asked.

"Confused. What, what happened?" Serenity wanted to know.

"One of the brothers gave you some spiked punch ... it didn't agree with you and you passed out. I brought you up here to sleep it off. Don't worry, all you did is sleep. I stayed in the chair," Chris answered. Serenity breathed a sigh of relief. "I saw your ring. I should have known a girl as pretty as you would have a boyfriend," Chris said. Serenity smiled slightly. "Are you hungry?" Chris asked.

"No, not really. I should get back to my dorm," Serenity murmured. Chris nodded and watched as Serenity slid off the bed. He held out a hand as she wobbled, holding her steady.

"You okay?" Chris asked. Serenity nodded.

"I just stood up too fast," she answered. "You're sure we didn't do anything?" Serenity asked as she pulled on her skirt.

"I swear on my life. In fact, Les was here until about an hour ago. She had to get to work," Chris promised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Serenity, what's wrong?" Gavin asked, hearing the panic in her voice.

"I don't want to talk about it over the phone, can you come up here?" Serenity asked. Gavin sighed and looked at Melinda who was butchering a chicken for home made pot pie.

"Just tell me if you're okay," Gavin said.

"I'm okay, but I need to see you and talk to you in person," Serenity said.

"Are you ..." Gavin couldn't even finish his statement. Melinda looked up, her eyes narrowing as she realized what Gavin was asking. He let out a sigh of relief at Serenity's answer and Melinda went back to working on the chicken.

"Go to her Gavin, I'll cover you for a week," Melinda said when Gavin asked her for the time off.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Gavin promised before hanging up the phone.

"You had better be careful Gavin. If you get her pregnant, you'll have Mark and Jake waiting to tear you into pieces," Melinda warned. Gavin nodded, washed his hands and left the restaurant.

"Serenity!" Gavin exclaimed as he knocked on her dorm room door. "What's wrong?" he asked when she opened the door and let him in, his eyes widening at the sight of her red eyes.

"Josie and Leslie convinced me to go to a frat party last night," Serenity began.

"Did you have sex with someone else?" Gavin asked, his heart pounding with anticipation.

"No, but one of the frat brothers gave me some punch that was spiked. I woke up in Leslie's brother's bed. I don't remember how I got there, but Chris told me that he and Leslie brought me up there because I had a bad reaction to the punch. He also said that Leslie stayed in the room up until an hour before I woke up and that nothing happened," Serenity answered.

Gavin pulled Serenity into a hug as her legs gave out again.

"You need a doctor," Gavin said gently. Serenity shook her head.

"I just need some sleep," she protested. Gavin carried her to the bed.

"Serenity, you're burning up!" Gavin exclaimed.

"I'm so tired," Serenity murmured.

"Hold on," Gavin whispered, lifting Serenity back into his arms. He carried her to the car and quickly headed to the nearest emergency room.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong with me?" Serenity demanded to know.

"I'm waiting for your parents to get here," the doctor answered.

"Doctor Hansen, I'm eighteen years old, you don't need my parents here to talk to me," Serenity said. Gavin reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Very well. The punch was spiked with the date rape drug. When was the last time you had sex?" Doctor Hansen asked.

"When were you here last?" Serenity asked Gavin.

"It's been four months," Gavin said with a small smile.

"Have you had any periods of time you don't remember?" Doctor Hansen asked. Serenity nodded. "I'll need to do a pelvic to make sure you weren't raped," he told Serenity. Serenity looked at Gavin who gave her a reassuring smile.

"When was your last period?" Doctor Hansen asked.

"Um, last month; it was pretty light though," Serenity answered.

"And are you both using condoms?" Doctor Hansen inquired. Serenity shook her head.

"But I'm on birth control. I did have a severe case of Strep throat and put on Penicillin about four and a half months ago," Serenity said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where's Serenity?" Ashira asked Gavin.

"She's in with the doctor. So far, all we know is that she went to a party last night and was given some punch that was spiked with the date rape drug and she had a reaction to it. The doctor is giving her a full exam and running a few tests and then he'll let Serenity go home," Gavin said, rubbing his eyes.

He looked up as Doctor Hansen walked out into the hall.

"It'll be awhile before we have all of the test results." He turned to Gavin. "She's asking for you," he added. Doctor Hansen followed Gavin back into Serenity's room.

"What's going on?" Gavin asked.

"There are a few test results that have come back," Doctor Hansen said. Gavin slipped his hand into Serenity's and squeezed it gently. "You weren't raped, there's no sign of sexual activity. I had the lab fast track a pregnancy test due to the fact that you were on penicillin." Serenity and Gavin exchanged glances. "It came back positive. I need to do an ultrasound to find out about how far along, but going on when you said you had sex last, I'm going to say that you are about thirteen weeks pregnant," he added.

Serenity looked over at Gavin who was standing in front of the window. "Gavin, I'm sorry. I should have said something about the antibiotics when you got here," Serenity said, her eyes filling with tears. Gavin turned around with a sigh.

"Serenity, I'm not mad at you, I'm just trying to figure things out," Gavin said. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How are you feeling?" Gavin wanted to know as Doctor Hansen walked back into the room.

"You were given a fairly high dose of GHB. You're actually very lucky to be alive. How much water did you drink today?" Doctor Hansen asked.

"About forty ounces," Serenity answered. Doctor Hansen nodded. "Did it hurt the baby?" Serenity asked, her voice quiet.

"We don't know. Because it's an illegal drug, it isn't allowed to be tested on pregnant women," Doctor Hansen admitted. "All of your other tests came out okay; no STDs, no other complications. I suggest setting up an appointment with an OBG/YN as soon as possible," Doctor Hansen told Serenity. "Oh, your parents are driving the nurses crazy, you might want to let them know what's going on," he added before leaving the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Jake wanted to know.

"Can we just go get something to eat and I'll tell you then?" Serenity asked. Jake studied his daughter carefully and nodded. An hour later, they were sitting in the common area of the dorm room that Serenity shared with Leslie, Chris and Josie.

"What did you want us here for?" Josie asked.

"First, Leslie, I wanted to thank you and Chris for realizing something was wrong and getting me out of the party," Serenity said. Gavin eyed Chris from across the room.

"I didn't touch her like that," Chris said, holding his hands up in front of him.

Gavin laughed a little. "I know."

"Chris, one of the brothers in your fraternity dosed the punch with GHB," Serenity said.

Chris' eyes widened.

"I'll find out which one and that person will not only be kicked out of the frat, but they'll be kicked out of school," Chris promised, before he, Leslie and Josie left.

"Serenity, stop stalling. What's wrong?" Ashira asked, growing impatient.

"How's nursing going?" Gavin asked, seeing Serenity beginning to panic a little. Ashira smiled a little; she had gone back to school to get her nursing degree and Allyson had taken over working in the tanning salon for her.

"I had a severe case of strep throat a few weeks before Gavin came to visit last time and was on penicillin," Serenity said, unable to handle the tension in the room any longer.

Ashira looked at her daughter sharply. "Please tell me you were careful."

"Mel helped me get the pill a few months before I turned eighteen," Serenity said. Ashira glanced at Melinda who shrugged.

"Did you use a condom?" Ashira clarified. Gavin shook his head. Ashira looked at Serenity with a sigh, a look of deep disappointment on her face that softened a little when she saw the tears streaming down Serenity's cheeks. Jake and Mark looked at each other, two men clueless to all things medical and women.

"How far along?" Melinda wanted to know. Jake and Mark stared at each other, both understanding that phrase. Gavin swallowed nervously, seeing the looks of disdain on both Mark and Jake's faces.

"Stop it both of you!" Ashira snapped.

"Thirteen weeks," Serenity said softly, picking at her hamburger.

"How could you let this happen?" Jake growled.

"I didn't mean for it to," Serenity whispered.

"Nobody ever does," Mark grumbled. He gave Gavin a look that clearly stated he was going to kill him.

"Killing Gavin is not going to help this situation any," Melinda told Mark. Ashira snickered. Serenity put the burger back in the take out tray and pushed it away.

"When is the last time you ate?" Ashira wanted to know.

"Dinner last night," Serenity admitted.

"You need to eat," Ashira said gently.

Gavin saw the fear in Serenity's face so he stood up, grabbed her hand and pulled her into one of the bedrooms.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jake demanded to know before Gavin could close the door. Gavin ignored Jake and pulled the door closed behind him.

"I'm sorry," Serenity whispered.

"Look at me," Gavin said gently. Serenity looked at Gavin and he kissed her gently.

"We'll get through this," Gavin promised.

"I don't know what to do." Gavin held Serenity as she finally fell apart. Gavin looked up as Jake opened the door and stepped inside the bedroom; Serenity's sobs had slowed and she had begun hiccuping.

"I'm sorry daddy," Serenity managed to say.

Jake knelt down in front of Serenity and took her hands.

"Serenity, you need to calm down. Hyperventilating isn't going to do you or the baby any good," Jake said gently, his anger forgotten. Jake turned to Gavin. "Please wait outside," Jake said.

Gavin pressed a kiss to the top of Serenity's head and returned to the common room.

"Serenity, I know you didn't plan or expect this," Jake began, reaching for his daughter's hand. "And while I'm disappointed, I'm not angry. I love you, nothing will change that. Your mother and I will help you through this as best we can, but you and Gavin need to decide what you're going to do," Jake said.

"I'm scared," Serenity whispered.

Jake gave Serenity a hug. "It's okay, being scared is natural. I'm going to let you sleep for a few hours, but you need to eat something soon," Jake said. Serenity nodded; Jake kissed his daughter before leaving the bedroom.

Upon returning to the common room, Jake found Mark and Gavin in a screaming match. "Mark, enough! I'm not happy about this either, but it's done. Now, Serenity just needs our support. Now, I've told Serenity to sleep for a little while. Gavin, I want you to stay here and when she wakes up, get some food in her, I don't care if it's just chicken broth and egg noddles. She needs food. Mark, you're going to back off, and let Gavin and Serenity decide what they're going to do about the baby," Jake said, taking charge.

"I want Gavin kept away from Serenity," Mark said stubbornly.

"Oh for the love of God Mark! By your logic, you should be made to stay away from Ashira," Melinda exclaimed.

"Mark, Serenity's eighteen. This is her decision," Ashira said gently. Mark sighed but nodded. Everyone turned as the bedroom door opened.

"Serenity, you should be resting," Ashira told her daughter, frowning when she saw how pale Serenity looked.

"Please stop fighting," Serenity whispered. Mark's expression softened when he saw the hurt on his daughter's face.

Gavin crossed the room, and took Serenity by the hand, pulling her down onto the couch.

"You're too young to be going through this," Mark said.

"She isn't alone," Gavin said, keeping his voice calm, even though he was so angry with Mark that he wanted to scream. Mark actually smiled at that. Melinda forcefully pulled Mark from the dorm room, followed by Jake and Ashira.

"Are you okay?" Gavin asked, handing Serenity a glass of water.

"I'm so sorry Gavin. I've screwed everything up, for both of us," Serenity whispered after taking a sip.

"Sere, look at me," Gavin said gently. Serenity looked up and Gavin held her hand with the promise ring in front of her face. "I love you. I always will," Gavin assured her. Serenity sniffled and Gavin gave her a gentle hug. "What do you want to do about the baby?" he asked after a moment.

Serenity hesitated. "I think I want to keep her," Serenity said.

Gavin smiled. "Her?"

Serenity shrugged. "It sounded better than it," she murmured, trying to hide a yawn.

"Go get some rest. I need to talk to Mel," Gavin said. gently. Serenity nodded and Gavin covered her up with a blanket before leaving the room.