A few hours later...
Betty Pov:
All of the guests arrived, including my mom and some other relatives and friends that I hadn't seen since high school; people that I'd also pushed away all those years ago. I'd found time to explain everything and apologize, and after all was said and done, they were beyond ecstatic to come to my first official gender reveal party. Jug also had a few serpent friends come that he'd managed to keep in touch with over the years.
I initially was concerned that he might've felt guilty or ashamed or some other emotion of the like due to the fact that his abusive father couldn't come. I confronted him about it, but he firmly dismissed my worry. "Don't worry, Betts. It's okay. This is our day. I wasn't going to invite my tragedy of a father that I haven't spoken a word to since I was 17.", he explained as he rubbed my arm. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm happy. My only concern right now is ensuring that you're calm and you're happy, and of course making sure that the girls are happy as well.".
We watched Trinity's black curls bounce around along with Lola's hazelnut brown ones as they ran around greeting the variety of new people. Veronica, Archie, Cheryl, and Toni still bustled around, confirming that everything was perfectly set up and looked marvelous as it had been anticipated to be.
"Guys, relax!", I said. "This is a gender reveal party, not my wedding! It's absolutely beautiful, really, but you guys need to give yourselves a break. Everything looks fantastic, I promise.".
They all let out a contained sigh of relief, huffing to alleviate their stresses. "I'm so glad you like it, B. I really want this to be an amazing day for you, and we just want to help in any way we can.", Veronica replied anxiously.
"Hey,", I muttered, pulling her into a sudden hug while extending an arm as an invitation for the others to join. They all accepted the offer, though Jug ultimately decided to wrap himself around my back instead. "You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for. I have the most amazing people in my life. That's all I could ever ask for.".
My mom came bolting over, each of my daughters in each of her arms as she began to pant slightly from the exhilaration. "Hey, Betty! It's 5 to 3:00. You should probably begin the cake-cutting soon.", she reminded me.
"T-Thanks, Alice.", Jughead answered for me. "Could you guys start gathering everybody so that we can start? Betty and I will wait with the girls by the cake, if that's alright.".
"Sounds like a plan, bro.", said Archie before they all hurried off in separate directions. Jug grasped my hand tightly, spinning me around and dragging me off to track down the girls. His breathing became increasingly heavier, him failing to halt or at least for a moment. It had me perplexed. Though that Lola and Trinity were within sight and in the same facility with people we trusted, his fresh exterior emotion didn't subside.
I had opened my mouth to try to console him, but we had reached the girls before I'd had the chance. We each held a hand out to them silently, then knowing exactly what would occur within the next few moments, and we made our way back over to where our small crowd of friends had collected.
"Hi, everyone! Thank you all for being here today for me and Jug, and also our two little girls, of course.", I stated, increasing the volume of my voice as I spoke. "I-I don't really know what else I need to say, so I guess we'll just cut the cake then. For those of you who don't know, the color that is correlated with the corresponding gender is the color the inside of the cake is, so we'll all discover whether we're going to have a baby boy or girl as we cut our first slice!".
With that and a gentle squeeze of the hand from Jug, we took deep, shaky breaths, holding the knife together. We pushed it slowly into the cake, catch our breath as we anxiously awaited the pop of color to show through.
We lifted the slice out together, crumbled of blue falling from the middle as everyone began to clap and hoot in amusement and enthusiasm. "We're having a boy!!", Jughead shouted happily, flinging his arms around me to pull me into a vehement kiss.
"Girls, would you like to tell everyone what name you girls helped us choose for our baby boy?", I suggested tearfully, my voice cracking slightly. Jug pulled me into a tight side hug.
"Our baby brother's name is gonna be... ASHTON!", they exclaimed in unison, squealing with excitement as they did so, receiving calls of awe in return. I covered my mouth as I began to sob joyously, my head being placed onto Jug's shoulder as he cried with me.
Everyone clapped for us, coming up to congratulate us, but Jug suddenly created a small space between us as he looked out to everyone. "Actually, before we all celebrate, there's one more thing...".
He kneeled down onto one knee, his hand dipping into his chest pocket before he pulled out a ring with a sparkling diamond that reflected off of the tears that grew in his eyes.
"Elizabeth Cooper, I wish their was a way that I could possibly express or represent my love for you, which is so great that I myself have trouble comprehending how I managed to get a hold on you before someone else did. I truly don't deserve you. I don't deserve your kindness, good nature, beautiful smile, sense of humor, wit, pure joy, or your overall ethereal presence. I don't deserve any of you. I don't deserve your love. You truly saved me in every sense. You've made me into a better person, and you've gifted me more happiness than I could've imagined existed on this earth.".
"Yes, we've had our ups and downs, but that's what makes us stronger. I'm incredibly grateful that I have this opportunity to provide for someone who wants to reciprocate that action. No matter what you go through, I will always be here for you. I know I haven't been the best at keeping that promise, but I promise that from now on, I'll never hurt you again. Depressing subject aside, you make me so happy, Betts. I can't imagine my life without you.".
"So, Elizabeth... my Betts, will you make the happiest man in the world and be mine forever? Will you allow me to have the honor of being your husband? Will you marry me?".
This is the end of Pushed! I really hope you all enjoyed this story that I've been writing for the past 3 months! This was my first story, so please let me know what you thought of it!
I'm sad that this AU is ending, but stay tuned for the next one!!
Thank you all for being incredibly supportive throughout this story, and thank you for reading! I appreciate your love more than you know! 💜
