Before We Were Fifty

Chapter 3

Sitting in my living room, I nervously await my mother. She's not a scary or demanding woman...unless you really piss her off. I, thankfully, have only ever done that once and it was over something completely stupid. None the less, she still makes me shake with fear. The doorbell goes off and I jump out of fear. Rushing to it from the couch, I open the front door and the screen door, instantly enveloping my mother in a hug.

"I missed you Mama." I kiss her cheeks and she smiles widely at me.

"I've missed you too baby. Now, let's have some coffee and chat over your news." She leads me to my own kitchen and begins making the coffee as I sit and watch her. I have no doubt that she'll be excited about her first grand-baby, but I am also without a doubt that she will be beyond pissed when I tell her that I plan on raising the child alone. Maybe I should tell her about Jamie, but then again, I don't want her to jump on me about being responsible- okay, so maybe I'm not as responsible as I'd like to think I am, but still. "Okay, darling. What's this news you have to share?"

"Mama...I, um..." God this is harder than I thought. She sits next to me at the kitchen island and for some reason a few tears start popping up in my eyes. Come on Dakota! You have to tell her.

"Honey, what's wrong? Is it a boy?" Oh mom, if only you knew. I shake my head no and try again.

"I'm..." A frog catches in my throat and I can't do a single thing about this.

"You're what? Honey, why are you so upset?

"I'm pregnant...mama." Eyes squinted shut and tears bursting through them, I can just feel my mother sitting there staring at me with a neutral face on. Suddenly, she takes me in her arms and holds me close. Kissing my head, she rocks back and forth trying to calm me. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"Look at me, Coqui. You have nothing to be sorry for. Babies are wonderful miracles. A pain at times, but always a blessing. Now, who might the father be, my baby girl?" She looks at me in her extended arms and I couldn't possible tell. For all I know, she may track him down and kill him..oh God- Dad. What's Dad gonna say. Better question, what's he gonna do?

"I rather not say. I'm perfectly content raising my child without him." Bravely, I speak these words to my mother and she just shakes her head.

"You are too stubborn like me. Now then, how far along are you?" She kisses my temple and then sips her coffee.

"Only 6 weeks. Here." I hand her the picture of my teeny tiny baby and her eyes light up. Boy does that feel good. "He or she is really tiny. I won't be able to find out more about her until I'm five months pregnant. Three months mama."

"Oh baby. I'm so happy for you. You'll of course move in with me so I can take care of you."

"Mama..." I whine, but really, I wouldn't have it any other way. I know it's gonna be hard and I'm gonna need help, but I still have to remain the independant woman I pretend to be. "Okay, fine."

"We have to tell your father. He's going to want to know, Dakota." Of course she ruins this moment for me. "Shall we have dinner with him?"

"Mama, as much as I want to, I also wanna wait. I'm only in my first trimesterm which means I have one more month before it's obvious. Can you and I just keep this for a while? Please?" I plead her and she gives me that side smile of reassurance. "Thanks. Now, let's go watch some sappy Hallmark movie."

**ONE MONTH LATER**

Sitting in my mother's den of her estate house, I look through a baby catalogue while E! Network plays in the background. I usually don't watch this shit, but lately there hasn't been anything good on, so why not catch up on the gossip- as long as I'm not involved I really don't care. My bump has gotten slightly bigger, but not by much. This whole thing has been a breeze, besides explaining to Michelle why I was moving back in with my Mother. It crushed her, but immediatley she filled the space with her new boyfriend Luke Guldan- a God among all models. It's quite sad how envious I can be of her and that man, but then again I had a great model before too. Huh, was I stupid for keeping Jamie away? Maybe I should involve him in the babie's life...