in a heartbeat

three

"i'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Ricky feels his heart pounding as he looks at his girlfriends mother in front of him. Nini can't move, shes pretty sure she's frozen solid in this very moment.

"Nini's pregnant."

it hits him all at once, the fact that they're sixteen and are going to be having a baby. they don't have jobs, they don't know what they want to do with their lives, they can't raise a kid.

Carol sighs as she looks at the teens, "okay, clearly this is unexpected. i'm not going to yell because i think that would be unproductive and unprofessional, you're already pregnant and we can't go back on that now. obviously there are some things you need to work out and talk about. i'm not going to tell you guys what to do, you got into this mess, figure out how to deal with it."

she eyes her daughter who still has this scared look on her face, her eyes downcast to the end of the bed, clearly overthinking everything.

"i get off work in two hours. Ricky, please take Nini home and make sure she's settled. we will talk when i get home."

the woman is out of the room and before they know it, they're discharged and heading back to the car. Nini almost trips over her own feet as she walks, sliding into the passenger seat without a word.

they don't talk. Ricky thinks it's partially because they're still in shock. instead, he keeps his eyes on the road, glancing over at his girlfriend while they're stopped at red lights. she's staring straight ahead, no emotion on her face.

when they get to her house, she heads upstairs without a word. cautiously, he follows her, finding her curled up on her bed. silently, he climbs in behind her, wrapping his arms gently around her waist.

it's then that she breaks down.

"oh god, what have we done?!" she sobs as Ricky holds her tightly.

he tries his best to stay calm, not wanting to break in front of her, "it's okay, we'll figure it out."

she sits up, breaking away from him. tears stream down her face, one after another, "this isn't like needing to figure out a math problem or what song to sing in an audition, we're having a baby. this is a real human life! how could we be so careless?!"

"it was an accident Neens, things happen. we'll figure out what to do. we always do." he rubs her arm soothingly as she takes some deep breaths.

"we can't keep it." she whispers.

"what?" he ducks down closer to hear her.

Nini shakes her head, "we can't keep it Ricky. that only leaves us two options. either we give it up for adoption or i get an abortion."

he takes a deep breath, "okay...we'll decide soon but i think we need to process this first."

"no, we need to figure out what we're doing right now because i can't possibly be sixteen and pregnant..." she gasps and holds her hands over her mouth, "oh my god, i'm sixteen and pregnant."

frantically she gets up and begins to pace, "i promised myself i would never be this irresponsible and now look at me, i'm pregnant at sixteen! oh god, i'm a disappointment, my moms are going to disown me, Lola is never going to talk to me ever again. what will your parents think?"

"Neens, calm down."

"i can't, i'm freaking out."

Ricky wraps his arms around her from behind, slowly guiding them to the floor, holding her tightly, "take a deep breath," she does as she's told, "good, now we can worry about this later. right now we have to get through talking to your moms."

she nods slowly in his arms, her hands holding on tightly to his forearms, her nails digging into his skin as she centers herself.

they stay there for a while, sitting on the floor of her bedroom in silence. it isn't until the front door opens, her mother's calling for her, that they stand up.

the two walk hand in hand down the stairs, coming face to face with the two stoic women. Dana is seated on the couch in the den, Carol standing next to her with her arms crossed.

"Nina...i don't know what to say." Dana says, clearly having been filled in on the situation.

"Mama i'm so sorry. i messed up. we messed up."

"we'll none of that matters now. we can't turn back time. we do need to think about the future though." the older Asian woman says.

Carol buts in, "which is why i've scheduled you an appointment tomorrow morning with a friend of mine who is a gynecologist, she's going to discuss some options with you and prescribe you some vitamins and nausea meds."

Nini nods, not having anything to say. Ricky squeezes her hand, letting her know he's there.

the teen boy quietly speaks up, "um...i want you guys to know that i take full responsibility. i'm going to be here to support Nini through everything. i'm going to get a job and help pay for doctors appointments, i'm not going anywhere."

Dana nods, "we'll that's very respectable of you Ricky, you've always been a good boy. i think that you better go home now and tell your dad what's going on. we want to talk to Nini a little more too."

he nods, whispering to his girlfriend that he'd see her later and kissing her cheek. he heads out to his car, taking a deep breath when he gets in.

the entire ride home, he drafts the conversation with his father in his head. there's only two ways this could go and he isn't sure which one will happen. before he knows it, he's pulling up in front of his house, getting out and heading inside.

Mike is rummaging around the kitchen, trying his best not to burn the dinner he's making, "oh, hey kiddo."

"dad, i need to tell you something..."