Toni had come home, feeling afraid to even look at her family, nervous that her mother might take one look in her eyes and know what was going on. Before, it had been different, when Toni thought she could just poof the baby away, or later when she decided to keep it, and could justify not telling her parents by deciding that Cheryl should know first. But now, knowing that it was a definite to tell her parents tomorrow, a new fear had nestled in the pit of her stomach.
The one comforting thing about her extreme anxiety, was that the emotions were familiar in principle. Before, when thinking about getting rid of her baby, and then when facing the idea of raising a child, she had dealt with unknown dangers. But tomorrow, she was simply admitting to having committed a bad act to her mother and father, something she had had plenty of practice at. In a way, she was able to slightly appease her rattling nerves by thinking of her confession tomorrow as sicker to situations when she was five, and had been caught creating a mural on her walls or feeding pennies to the dog. She faced the risk of being yelled at, but by the next day everything would be okay again.
Of course, this time the next day would not relieve Toni of punishment. She had a very permanent consequence to deal with, one she knew she was going to have to start preparing for. Part of her wondered if she would have ended up pregnant, had Cheryl been her rightful girlfriend and not Hayley's during the countless possible times of conception. Perhaps Lady Karma had taken it upon herself to teach Toni and Cheryl both a lesson in responsibility by giving them the biggest one an American teenager could face.
Then again, Cheryl and Toni were irresponsible in other ways too, speaking on more practical terms. How many times had Toni's mother reminded her that while she'd rather her wait, if she were ever to have sex that birth control was absolutely necessary? Toni was sure tomorrow the point would come up. (So much for being gay and not having to worry about that)
Toni had forgotten so many times to take her pill, just in the same way she would forget to do her math homework. There had been several occasions during her affair with Cheryl when both were caught unprotected, but had continued anyways, hoping for the best. Toni knew she had been stupid, but despite the fact that she was reaching the age that adults deemed "growing up", she was still a child on the inside. She now had full breasts, ones that had helped her to lure Cheryl, but they were pushed up to a level of perfection by bras her mother's credit card had taken care of. She could go anywhere she desired and drive herself there, but in a car fully paid for by her Daddy's money, and fueled by gas his cash also supplied. Her room stayed clean only because her neat freak of a mother tended to it every other Sunday. If not it would still be an atrocious wreck, one that she would dread cleaning just as much as she had as a child. And she was still accustomed to screaming and tantrums should her parents ever deny her way, stomping up the stairs, and slamming her bedroom door in a fit. She was a child, and it had taken a very adult situation to make her realize it.
She made her way upstairs, hoping to slip into her room, unnoticed. The minute she reached the top of the stairwell, though, Veronica opened her bedroom door, looking just as confrontational as she had learned to be since Toni had gotten herself into this mess.
"What did Cheryl say?" she demanded immediately.
Toni was taken aback for a moment, confused as to why Veronica was in her room when she wasn't home, before an annoyed look settled on her perfect features. "Don't you have a life, a girlfriend? Does Josie know you're here 24/7?"
"She knows I have a best friend who needs my support, now what did Cheryl say when you told her you were keeping the baby?"
"Shh!" Toni hushed her with a glare, "They might hear you!"
"Well, they may need to hear me if your dad needs to go down to Cheryl's house with a shotgun in a few minutes!" Veronica snapped back, "What did she say?"
