Giving birth was hell. Giving birth, in the middle of nowhere with only Misty Quigley and good luck wishes to keep you alive made it even more hell. Does that make sense? Maybe not, but she doesn’t particularly care at the moment because she just gave birth in the middle of the fucking forest in the middle of nowhere and she just wants to sleep.
She tightened her hold on her son, holding him close to her chest. Her kid. That she somehow lived to see, that somehow beat the odds and wasn’t miscarried. An honest to god miracle. Now she just has to keep him alive long enough to survive the wilderness and to hopefully be rescued.
She smelled his skin, her soft baby boy, who she loves tenderly, somehow. He’s only been alive for a few days but she’s already attached and would do anything for him. Funny how that works.
There was the sound of the floorboards shifting at the door, as if someone was putting their weight back and forth between their legs, nervously debating on if they should knock or just walk away.
Shauna took a long deep breath before raising her voice. “Who is it?”
If it’s Misty again, claiming that she needs to check up on her again for the hundredth time, she’s gonna throw her shoe at her.
The door slowly creaked open as a honey blonde head of hair became visible from behind it.
“Hey.” She waited for Shauna to nod before walking in the room the whole way. “I know that we’re still kind of… angry at each other right now, but-” She swallowed her saliva while she quickly looked away before looking back at her, suddenly confident. She’s looking at her in the eyes, her chin is up and her lips are pressed tightly together. “Look. You’re still my best friend, and you have a kid now. And because I know that we’re going to get over this fight eventually, because Jeff isn’t worth this shit. And I wanna be here for you and the little guy.”
Shauna stayed silent, a bit from the shock, a bit in disbelief. From what she could see, Jackie was being honest. Her eyes were earnest and her body language was open and vulnerable.
“Look. It’s always been me and you. You and me. Us. We’re a unit, Shauna, we can’t be separated, we’re a package deal. I want to help you out with all the gross postpartum shit you need to get through. And I want to be that little boys’ aunt so fucking bad. And-” she cut herself off, as if she was a balloon that had suddenly lost all of its air. “Fighting with you is so fucking exhausting and I miss my best friend.”(1)
Shauna nodded her head, tears welling up in her eyes. Her arm that was cupped over her son’s head was held outward, inviting her friend for a hug.
Jackie quickly walked over to her before coming in her embrace, closing in the newborn in between the two of them. “I’m so sorry for sleeping with your boyfriend. It was so fucking stupid and-”
It had been a few minutes of silence, the hug long since transformed into Jackie clambering to lay down in the bed next to Shauna, putting her head on her chest, right next to the baby’s head. Jackie listened to Shauna’s heartbeat with admiration.
Despite everything, it was strong and steady. The regular rhythm comforting her alongside Shauna’s smell. One would think that three days after having given birth and not having properly cleaned afterwards would lead to Shauna smelling something overripe and nasty. But weirdly enough, Jackie just can’t get herself to care. She’s sweaty and gross just like everyone in the cabin, but other than that, Shauna smells like herself, though with a bit of a milky smell that comes from the fact that she’s actively breastfeeding.
“So, what's the little guy’s name?”
“I haven’t named him yet.”
Jackie curved her head up so that she could see Shauna’s face a bit better. “Shit. Really?”
Shauna rolled her eyes, a smile quirking upwards on her lips nonetheless, as she nodded. “Haven’t really thought about it yet. One minute he was in me, the next he was out here looking at me like I should know what to do. Naming him just hasn’t been a priority.”
“Can I help name him?”
Shauna gave a shrug that jostled her shoulders a bit, leading to a small annoyed sound from her son. Shauna shushed him before turning her head back towards Jackie. “Go right ahead. What are you thinking?”
Jackie shot up like a rocket, sitting up next to her. She had a wild smile on her face. Looking at her the same way she would before telling her her next evil genius plan (Jackie’s name, not hers). “How do you feel about Jack? That way, even though I won’t be on his birth certificate, he’ll know his aunt Jackie will always be there for him.”
Shauna couldn’t stop herself from cringing a bit before schooling her expression. “Jax, don’t you think that’ll get a bit confusing really quickly?” Shauna had raised one of her eyebrows, as if to cement her point.
Jackie just nodded with a small frown. “You’re right, you’re right. Also it’s way too close to Jeff. Imagine Jack and Jeff” She shuddered. “Urgh.”
She plopped herself back down to lay on the small mattress, her body heat was like fire against Shauna, lighting every nerve like fireworks on the fourth of july.
“What about Joel? Nah, that’s too old man for this little guy. Jamie maybe? Could be cute. William? Logan?” Shauna looked at Jackie’s face as she enumerated multiple boy names at lightning speed. “No, that’s too close to that guy in those stupid xguys comics that Randy won’t shut up about.” Jackie moved onto her side to make sure that Shauna could see her face as she spoke seriously. “You cannot name this kid Randy or anything Randy adjacent. That’s like, a hate crime. If you do I’m overriding you as mother and changing his name”
Shauna started laughing. She couldn’t help it. She had missed her best friend so much. She forgot how ridiculous and silly she could be under her cool girl personna. Fuck, I love her so much. Despite the slight clench in her stomach, she couldn’t stop the giggles that were pushing their way out through her lips.
“Hey! Why are you laughing? This is serious. You can’t name him something that’ll have him hating you.” Jackie was incredulous, her eyebrows as high as they could go on her face while her cheeks became flushed as she looked up at her friend sitting next to her.
Shauna thought she was cute like this, flustered, like she always got when Shauna teased her. That said, she also did not want to cause a new fight so soon after having ended the last one, so she eventually forced herself to stop laughing and spoke in a soft tone.
“I’m not laughing at you Jackie. I love that you’re taking this seriously. And, you’re right, this is serious.” Shauna gave Jackie a wild smile. “It’s just that, there’s no rush. It’s not like we have to fill out his birth certificate right this second.”
“It’s not like we can. Not many name registries in the middle of bum fuck nowhere.”
Shauna clicked her tongue while nodding. “Exactly my point. How about we try out a couple of names until we find one that sticks. Or maybe one that he likes.” Jackie nodded while giving her a broad smile that made her eyes crinkle ever so slightly.
Jackie’s eyes flicked back and forth for a minute before she went back to her original position, cuddled up against Shauna’s chest. “How about we start with Sammy short for Samuel?”