Finding Yourself: Book Two

Chapter Seventeen: The Offer

Devin was glad he was stuck with Klara- Nick probably wasn't as lucky. Klara seemed a lot more passive than before Devin came out to the whole school. She quietly led Devin to her bedroom- a room Devin thought he wouldn't see again.

When he first saw the room, he expected it to be filled with pink. But Klara wasn't nearly as predictable as that. She had her room dressed up in yellow and white with a bunch of white lace. It looked like a little girl's room. Innocent.

What they did in there once was less innocent.

"Does your dad know that we did it on his couch?" Devin asked, wanting the silence to end.

"No, and you better not tell him," Klara threatened half-heartedly. She seemed less evil when she talked to Devin. Her voice had a tone that Devin had never heard from her: probably sadness. It was a defeated sound. Her voice came out in sighs. "I'm glad you came. I wanted to offer you something."

"An offer?" Devin questioned suspiciously. If the offer had something to do with dating her, he wouldn't be surprised but he would be annoyed.

She sighed again.

"You're right," she admitted, "I won't be a good mother. I never really wanted a kid, but I thought a child would make you mine. I was wrong."

Devin expected a lot of things, but admittance wasn't one of them.

"So, what are you going to do?" Devin prompted.

"Well," Klara continued, "I've been watching you and Sam in the hallways- not in a creepy way. Just a casual way. The way you look at him is different. You've changed from the man I wanted." Devin didn't like the way she sounded. But he was glad that she finally accepted the defeat.

"What do mean?" he urged, trying to get to the point.

"I mean," Klara sighed, a little more in frustration like she was having trouble talking. "I mean that I know I won't have you ever. This child inside me is pointless now. I don't want it anymore."

A beat passed.

"So, what?" Devin responded, "Are you having an abortion or something?"

"Papa won't let me," she shrugged, "And neither will mom. They think it's unethical. At first, I was going to put it up for adoption, because I don't want the responsibility of taking care of it. But then, I thought of you. Well- that's the offer- do you want the baby after it's born?"

Devin couldn't speak for a second. He was sort of stunned.

"If not," Klara continued, "I'll just put it up for adoption like I planned. But since you are technically the father of this kid, I figured I would at least offer it to you."

Devin didn't really know what to say. Did he plan on stealing the kid's affection from Klara? Yes. But that was out of spite. Now, she was asking him to take the kid.

Part of Devin was pissed. She was throwing all of her responsibility on his shoulders when she was the cause of this madness? He wanted to shake her shoulders until her brain was a milkshake and yell at her for being such an idiot.

Part of Devin also felt satisfied. Klara was defeated, officially. She had backed down to the point of relying on Devin. Devin had won, and it felt so nice. He almost said something sarcastically mean to rub it in.

But there was another, smaller, part of Devin that wanted to take the kid. Not out of spite. Not as a trophy. He knew if he didn't take the baby, it would go up for adoption. The kid would have the same life as him- growing up switching between parents. Even if the baby was adopted immediately, what if they grow up in a bad home? What if they keep getting returned to the adoption agency like some kind of defective product at a supermarket? What if they never find a person like Nick?