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Driving and Jackie Taylor have never gotten along.
Ever since she turned sixteen and started her driving lessons, it was clear that it wouldn’t work. She’d always hit the curb, indicate too late (or simply forget to), park in between two lanes somehow and worst of all: speed. She wasn’t a rally-driver wannabe; she just tended to go at least ten or more miles per hour over the speed limit. It was never intentional, which only made it worse.
The girl had two instructors who said they were “quitting” only to learn they wanted to stop teaching Jackie and used a bullshit excuse like that. Which is rude. Jackie never even hit a moving object, so is she really that bad?
After her third instructor, who simply said after the first lesson that, in his own words, “Some people are just not meant to drive, you are one of those people.” Jackie swore to never step foot behind the wheel again; happy to live a driving-free life with her best friend as her own personal chauffeur.
That was until Shauna decided to fuck everything up by literally fucking Jackie’s boyfriend and lie to her about college.
It was undoubtedly the worst day of Jackie’s life when she found out, an avalanche of emotions consuming her so heavily she almost had a panic attack.
She hadn’t spoken to Shauna since the fight, which was during the start of summer, a summer she imagined to be the most unforgettable one, and it certainly was, but not how Jackie thought it would be.
After the fight, Jackie never truly realised how her world revolved around Shauna; she felt completely and utterly lost without the brunette, which only made her angrier. But she also noticed something else, she cannot drive anywhere.
Thus began the lengthy process of finding a new instructor and trying to learn how to drive again, and Jackie is proud to say that after two failed tests, she had managed to pass on her third- an accomplishment she celebrated alone.
She passed right before her first semester at Rutgers and before she knew it, she was back home for winter break.
Jackie had just been to the store, picking up some snacks she was weirdly craving, and was now driving home.
Just because someone passed their driving test doesn’t make them a good driver.
Madonna was playing loudly in Jackie’s car; she was mindlessly humming to it, enjoying the song and the freedom she felt being able to finally drive. But it didn’t take long until Jackie’s peace was shattered as a loud siren appeared behind her with blue flashing lights that made Jackie’s eyes squint at the sight in her mirror.
Nervously, she glanced down and checked her speed.
Shit.
She was doing forty, which isn’t ridiculously fast but she guesses it is if you’re in a thirty area.
“Shit!” She hissed, indicating as she slowed down until she eventually came to a stop on the side of the road, the police car mimicking her actions. Her heart raced dramatically in her chest, making her tap the steering wheel panickedly.
Jail would kill Jackie; she might not be the smartest, but she had enough common sense to know if she ended up locked up, she’d become someone's bitch. Jackie Taylor is many things, but she refuses to become someone's bitch in prison.
Tap, tap, tap.
The girl jolted at the sudden noise as she snapped her head to the side to see the police officer standing next to her window. She smiled nervously as she rolled her windows down with impeccable speed.
“Good evening officer.” She greeted with the most charming smile she could present; she was not getting this speeding ticket. Her dad would absolutely kill her.
The man lowers his gaze, a pair of thick rimmed sunglasses sitting neatly on his nose that hides his eyes. He had the most unamused look on his face, which only made Jackie internally panic further. “Do you have any idea why I pulled you over today, ma’am?” He asked gruffly.
Without thinking, Jackie nodded her head. “I was speeding.” She stupidly confessed, internally screaming at herself because she most definitely shot herself in the foot now. She could’ve easily pulled the ‘I have no idea, officer, oh my gosh, I was speeding? I had no idea! My sincerest apologies. It will never happen again, promise!’ but no, instead she told the truth immediately.
She was never a good liar; in fact, it was something she was always terrible at.
“I’m going to have to write you a speeding ticket.” He warned her in a disappointed voice, shaking his head as he slowly went to grab his notepad.
Jackie’s eyes widened.
Say anything! She screamed at herself before blurting out the stupidest excuse she could think of: “Speeding to my wife who is giving birth to he- our baby, right now.”
The officer immediately paused his movements, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Jackie who smiled at him in return.
Why the fuck would a freshly college student whose a girl have not only a wife but a pregnant wife?!
“You have a pregnant wife?” He asked in disbelief, making Jackie scoff, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared up at him. “Uh, yeah? Problem with that?”
“Yes, I don’t believe you.” He remarks bitterly to her, leaning one of his hands against the top of the car as he stares into Jackie’s soul, who was absolutely shitting it.
“And why is that? Is it because we’re both women ‘cause frankly that is just discrimination, sir.” Jackie replied with her own eyebrow raised challengingly.
“No, because you barely look nineteen.” He answered with a bit more sass in his tone than Jackie appreciated.
Jackie let out a panicked laugh, shrugging her shoulders. “We were young and dumb, what can we say?”
He didn't say anything for a minute, he stared at Jackie with utter disbelief, which made the back of Jackie’s neck sweat intensely.
She can’t go back on her word now or else she’d only get into more trouble.
He opened his mouth before promptly shaking his head, taking a step back. “Alright then, let’s go to the hospital. Together.”
Jackie’s eyes widened as she let out a nervous laugh, her stomach churning with nerves because now she seriously shot herself in the foot. “I don’t think my wife will appreciate me showing up with a random cop.” She replied with an awkward giggle.
“It’s either that or a speeding ticket.”
That’s how Jackie ended up driving to the hospital in pure silence, sweat drenching the back of her neck and armpits as a cop trailed behind her closely. This was most certainly the stupidest thing Jackie had ever done in her life, and she let Jeff touch her.
How was she even meant to play this out? Just whip up a random pregnant woman and say, ‘I’m trying to get out of a speeding ticket, can you play along?’ Her throat felt dry as she kept glancing at her rear-view mirror every three seconds to check if he was still trailing her until they both eventually parked side by side in the hospital's car park.
Shakily. Jackie got out of her car and locked it behind her as she briskly walked towards the hospital entrance. She was so fucked, so utterly fucked.
Once inside, she immediately ran to the first professional-looking woman who stood behind a desk. She gave a nervous smile as she approached. Most certainly covered in sweat.
“Hi, where is the maternity ward?” Jackie whispers to the woman behind the desk, leaning awkwardly close as she glances back to see the cop still lingering near the entrance with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “This is going to sound really weird, but hypothetically, what are the chances of any mothers here who are giving birth to babies, and there isn’t a father?”
The older woman's brows furrow together in confusion, staring at Jackie as if she had two heads, and Jackie isn’t even offended because she knows what a freak she sounds like right now. She lets out a sigh, nodding her head.
“A lot.” She answers first before nodding her head to the left. “Go left, and you’ll see signs that’ll lead you to the maternity ward.”
“Thank you very much,” Jackie replies with a smile, waltzing down the corridor soon after as the cop trails behind her by a few feet, his leather boots thudding against the clean floor.
She swallows dryly; she seriously needs to stop speeding.
She followed the signs carefully, trying to act as gracefully as possible to give off the energy that she knew exactly where she was going. But everything about her was the opposite of gracefulness, the no doubt sweat clinging to her forehead as her wide eyes scanned the area frantically.
Eventually, she found a long hall full of mothers, which made her slow her steps dramatically. Okay, maybe she should just admit she lied because this had clearly gone too far. A sigh escaped from her lips as she glanced to watch the cop behind her, who looked very angry, which made Jackie snap her head back and forth.
Yep, she definitely couldn’t go back on her word now.
Her eyes were desperately searching every room to find any woman with a baby; the idea of just making a run for it entered her mind only to escape seconds later as her eyes landed on a room with a woman and a baby inside.
She froze immediately, inhaling sharply as her wide eyes focused on the two.
It can’t be.
Surely Jackie would’ve heard something through the grapevine.
Before she could spiral further, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Is that her?” The officer asked in a mocking tone. Jackie couldn’t say anything; she couldn’t move as her eyes stared at Shauna with a fucking baby. “I don’t have all day, ma’am.” He added soon after at Jackie’s lack of response.
That made Jackie move forward without thinking, her eyes still wide and her heart drumming against her chest rapidly as months of anger immediately subsided at the sight. She missed her best friend’s pregnancy.
At that moment, Jackie didn’t think of Jeff cheating or Shauna lying to her. The only thing she could think of was the fact that Shauna now had a baby, and Jackie had no idea, wasn’t there to support her.
“Jackie?”
She snapped her eyes away from the baby to see a just as bewildered Shauna Shipman staring at her with tired eyes, her brows furrowed tightly in disbelief. Jackie smiled awkwardly, her eyes wildly flickering between the baby and Shauna, her throat suddenly dry.
“Shauna,” Jackie whispered, her mind still reeling at the sight of Shauna with a baby as she tiptoed closer to the two. From her provisional vision, she spotted the officer still fucking there. Her posture straightened immediately as she went to stand right next to Shauna, lying in the hospital bed. “I’m trying to get out of a speeding ticket, so pretend to be my wife,” Jackie whispered hurriedly to her before forcing a very casual looking smile.
“What the fuck?” Shauna muttered to herself confused.
Jackie laughed breathlessly, nodding her head as if she was agreeing with Shauna. “Wowza! I can’t actually believe this.” She announced with a bit of enthusiasm as she gazed down at the baby, who had those same brown eyes Shauna had, it softened Jackie’s smile.
It was something Jackie always obsessed over.
“Me neither. It almost makes me wonder how the fuck we ended up here.” Shauna replied with a scoff which made Jackie laugh nervously as she glanced at the police officer glaring at them unimpressed.
“Language, Shipman.” Jackie expressed as she side-eyed Shauna quickly, who almost looked as unimpressed as the police officer. “I guess if we had been smarter and more honest, we would’ve never ended up here.”
Shauna rolled her eyes. “Or if someone wasn’t a controlling bi-”
“Boy! We have a boy!” Interrupted hastily, her smile awkward as she laughed loudly. Her eyes kept flickering between Shauna, the baby and the officer dramatically as she felt her back begin to get soaked due to all of the sweat. “What’s his name again? I’ve just been all over the place today.” Jackie asked, her eyes focusing on Shauna’s pleadingly.
The brunette paused, those big cow brown eyes flickering down to the baby resting in her arms. Jackie watched as she swallowed, not moving her gaze from her baby boy as she finally answered her.
“Tyler.”
For the third time that day, Jackie froze up immediately as her mouth became dry. She stared in disbelief at the mother and son, her eyes brimming with unshed tears at the name. The most selfish part of Jackie prayed the name was because of her; if it was, then that meant Shauna still thought about her.
“After his dad? Or mom or whatever.” Shauna muttered weakly, not daring to even spare Jackie a glance as she focused all of her attention on Tyler.
“Really?” Jackie asked, her voice cracked at the word as she completely forgot about the police officer. It didn’t even cross her mind that he was the reason she was at the hospital. Shauna finally glanced over at Jackie, who was already gazing at her in disbelief, her ears pink as all of those months building up to this moment forgotten about in a flash.
Shauna nodded her head slowly, her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“Yeah.” She confirmed.
Jackie nor Shauna even noticed the officer silently leave the room, both of them running high on emotions that had been building up for months, only to be deflated instantaneously at the sight of each other.
“Shauna, I don’t know what to say,” Jackie told her breathlessly, her mind and heart still racing as she not only couldn’t believe her luck but also at seeing Shauna again with a baby. “Where’s Deb?”
“On her way, probably picking up Jeff as well,” Shauna replied with a heavy sigh, which only made Jackie roll her eyes; she forgot that Jeff was the father for a second. God, she almost feels bad for a child that would have to share the same genes as Jeff.
The two don’t say anything for a while, both spying on Tyler, who lay there in Shauna’s arms as he struggled to stay awake. Jackie couldn’t help but smile at the baby, her eyes softening at the sight of how much he looked like Shauna.
It was uncanny.
She grew up with Shauna by her side since they were practically babies and now seeing Shauna, the same Shauna she was screaming at months ago as she swore she’d never speak nor look at her again, at her most vulnerable, it broke something in Jackie.
Slowly, she peeped over at Shauna with her wide eyes, only to see that Shauna was already looking at her, which made both of them smile like little kids. “I’ve missed you, Shauna.” Jackie finally spoke, letting out a small sob as she smiled through the tears, grasping out to rest her hand over Shauna’s with pure desperation.
“I missed you too, Jax.” Shauna whispered out with her own sad smile, and Jackie laughed wetly as she used her free hand to wipe at her tears with the back of her hand. “We need to have another talk as soon as possible, but I think you’ve been through enough today.”
Shauna finally let out her own weak laugh, nodding her head. “Yeah, you too, Steve McQueen.”
“Who the fuck is Steve McQueen?” Jackie commented confusedly, sue her, she didn’t watch movies every waking moment like Van or Shauna.
Shauna rolled her eyes amused. “You, apparently.” She remarked with a chuckle before speaking up again. “How did you even end up at the hospital trying to get out of a speeding ticket?”
Jackie closed her eyes, shaking her head with a grin. “‘Cause I can’t lie for shit, especially when under pressure.”
“Clearly.”
Both grinned at each other, giggling as if they were the best of friends again. They both knew they had a lengthy and complicated talk waiting for them, but for now they were content living in this bubble as they kept gazing over softly at Shauna’s baby.
Who knew the person that forced Jackie to start driving again would also be the reason why she got out of a speeding ticket?