Felicia

chapter four

It was the longest ten minutes of her life while she tapped her finger waiting for the timer to go off. Emily wasn't sure which result would hurt her more, she had always wanted to be a mom. Her own parents barely cared for her so she promised herself that she would gave her love to any child she had. Her fingers kept tapping on the sink counter until the timer went off, she breathed heavily turning the stick over. There were two lines, for the second time that day she nearly had a heart attack. She was beyond terrified but at the same time some part of her was relieved.
"I'm going to be a mom." She whispered to herself.

Somehow those two words dominating her fears from taking over her head. Tears of joy ran down her face as she walked out of the bathroom. She threw the test away and went off to find Cordell, he was sitting in the waiting room by himself. Sweat was dripping down his face and she sat down next to him.
"Hey Emily I was starting to get worried." He said.
She smiled and grabbed his hand, hoping to soothe his nerves.
"I'm alright but we need to talk about something Cordi." She responded. "But we shouldn't do it here."

"I thought you said you were okay?" Cordell asked.
"I am but what I'm going to say isn't easy to hear and I don't want you to be upset." Emily said.
She knew him well and knew the second she told him the truth he would blame himself. He was as stubborn as a mule, but she didn't mind, it was one of the reasons she loved him. Others would have called it a simple school girl crush but she had been in love with him since the moment they met. He didn't push her away but she could still fell his anxiety. She opened her mouth to speak but Cordell spoke up before she could.

"Did the results come back? Look I don't blame you for hating me if they are positive," he said. "I still don't know what came over me but I don't want this to ruin what we have Emily."
"Cordell..." She began but was cut off.
"No please let me finish, I hope you know that I would never want to do anything to hurt you," he said. "I care about you in ways I can't explain its probably why I can't even explain it to myself."
Emily knew what he was trying to tell her but she wasn't that great with words so she decided to just go for it. She shushed him and closed the distance between them when he tried to ask questions. It was a wonderful moment for both of them despite it lasted no more than a second.

"I know and I feel the same but I could never hate you Cordell, I like you too much." She responded. "And thats why I'm alright because despite what happened I still feel the same."
Despite the starstruck expression on her new boyfriend's face, Emily told him everything. How she wanted to keep the baby no matter the consequences it might have for their future. Along with how much she wanted to raise their son or daughter together. Her grandparents wouldn't approve of her choice, they were believers in waiting until marriage. Which was fine but she didn't regret what she did and she was happy. Cordell almost fainted a total of five times before he responded to her words.

"I want the baby and I want to be with you," he said. "I love you Emily."
"I know and I love you too." She responded.
The two shared another kiss and met up with the doctor again whose intern had vanished.
"Ugh Rosaline got on my nerves, anyway I'm going to give you a list of things to do to keep your baby healthy," the doctor said. "Make sure to come in for your ultrasounds in a few months and stay away from harmful substances."

***

There was no doubt about it, dealing with a teenage pregnancy came with challenges. Emily tried at first to keep it a secret from everyone at school, but eventually she couldn't and people started calling her a slut. If she wasn't about to graduate Emily knew she would have dropped out of school to avoid all the taunting. Her grandparents weren't happy either so she ended moving in with Cordell and his family. They took good care of her and helped her look for jobs to make money. Yet people were hesitant to hire her due to pregnancy and age. It was those moments that made Emily realize how much teen mothers were looked down on. She didn't give up though and kept looking.

By the time she hit the end of her second month she had graduated highschool with honors, and had a part time job at a senior center. She found that she enjoyed taking care or the people there even if she wasn't a nurse or anything. Still the job made her realize what she wanted to do, she wanted to help people. So she decided after her gap year she would apply to college for a social work degree. Cordell was struggling with his calling as college didn't really work for him, so he took a year off himself. The months continued to go by with doctors appointments, mood swings, morning sickness and so much more. Until one day about four weeks before her due day Emily was talking with Geri at the side step when she felt a sharp pain.
"Emily are you okay?" She asked.
"I think my water just broke." Emily said.