Teenagers, Love and Pregnancy

Chapter 16

It was eight o'clock the next day, and I had an ob/gyn appointment to get another ultrasound and check on the baby. Since Mom and John were both at work, I was going to be driving myself.

Last night had been rough, but fortunately, I'd been able to finally get some sleep. When I woke up the next morning, my heart still hurt, but I was trying to put it behind me and accept the fact that Kendall was just no good.

I pulled my hair into a messy ponytail and slicked a tiny amount of makeup onto my face. I pulled on a pair of maternity pants with an elastic waistband and one of mom's maternity blouses she had worn when she was pregnant with me. I walked down the stairs, grabbed my keys, and stepped out the front porch. That's when I screamed, seeing a silhouette sitting on my porch swing. My entire body froze, and I became paralyzed with terror.

"Relax! It's just me, babe."

"Kendall?" Without meaning to, I called his name. Instantly, I regretted it as he walked up to me, wrapping me in his signature cologne and leather scented embrace.

"Get off me!" I said, shoving him away. "I want nothing to do with you! Cheater!" I chose to ignore the fact that he was on my porch when he was supposed to be hundreds of miles away.

"Listen, Cam. I love you, and I would NEVER cheat on you."

"Oh really?" I asked, keeping my distance from him. "Then what did Joey see on Facebook?"

Kendall sighed.

"My cousin, Cam. Joey saw me with my cousin, who also goes to school in Seattle."

"Oh please! Do you really expect me to believe that crap? That's the oldest card in the book!"

"Cam. Please. As soon as I heard your voicemail, I got a flight to come back here and tell you I love you, and I'd NEVER do something like this to you."

He paid who knows how much to fly to me in the middle of the night? That didn't sound like a cheater to me. . .

But still. . .

"Prove it. Prove to me that you love me and you wouldn't cheat on me, Kendall!"

"Fine," he said, pulling his keys out of his pocket and jingling them in my face. "Come on. Get in my car and I'll prove it to you."

No matter what I did, I couldn't fight my strong attraction to Kendall. No matter how angry at him I was, I wanted him to pull me in his arms again and tell me he loves me. But I knew my attraction to Kendall was dangerous. It made me want to believe everything he said and forgive anything he did. And that could be risky.

"No," I said, no matter how hard it was to refuse him. "I have an ob/gyn appointment."

"Fine," Kendall shrugged. "Then I guess you don't want to know."

I screamed internally. He had complete dominance over me, and he knew it. But I had no choice. For my sake, for my son's sake, I had to know.

"Okay," I said. "Fine."

I followed Kendall to his car, where he opened the passenger door for me and helped me in. As we rode along in silence, I tried not to look at him. If I saw him, I would remember how attracted I was to him and then be back where we started.

"Look at this," he said, after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't want to," I retorted.

"Cam. You have to look."

Reluctantly I turned to him and saw that he was extending his phone to me. I took at it and looked at the screen, and nearly gagged at what I saw. Kendall, his arm wrapped around a skinny girl with blonde and pink hair, her lips pressed to his remarkable jawline.

"Why are you showing me this?" I demanded, tears rushing to my eyes.

"So you know," was his only reply. I didn't fish for more information. At this point, I wasn't sure if I cared to know more.

As we drove along more, I recognized the route we were taking. Before I knew it, we were at Kendall's house. I followed him inside in silence, with him offering no explanation as to where we were going or what we were doing.

"Mom?" Kendall called. "Mom, where are you?"

I followed him in silence as we found his mom in the kitchen.

"Oh hi, Cameron!" she said brightly. "Well look at you! You're getting so big! And I mean that in the best way, of course." She beamed up at me.

"Mom, we only have a second," Kendall said. "Who is this with me?" He handed the phone to his mother, the photo of him and the girl still on the screen.

"Oh!" Kendall's mom said. "That's Ali, my sister Gina's daughter."

It hit me like a brick wall. His mom's sister's daughter. His aunt's daughter. His cousin.

"Kendall, I --"

But he stormed out of the room without a word to me. I followed him back out the front door, down the steps, and into his car.

"Kendall?"

No answer.

He shoved the key in the ignition and angrily started the car.

"Kendall?"

He didn't answer. We drove haughtily and quickly back to my house and sat in the driveway, parked in a long period of awkward silence.

"Kendall, please. I'm sorry. I've just been so moody lately, and so scared. I just love you, and I really want this to work."

He was silent for a long time before answering.

"Cameron. If this is going to work, us being parents and all, you have to trust me. Do you understand that?"

I nodded.

"I love you more than anything else in this world, Cameron Barone. And you cannot forget that, not for one day when we're parents."

"I love you Kendall."

Tears slipped down my face. How could I be such an idiot?!

"Hey, don't cry," he said, his voice softening. "Come here, Cam."

As hard as it was with my baby bump, I climbed over the center console and into his lap. Kendall's piercing eyes locked with mine. I could feel his stomach rise and fall as he breathed. His hands slipped up my shoulders and into my hair as, our eyes still locked, he began to play with it, toying it around his fingers. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer, my heart thudding loudly. I wrapped my hands around the back of Kendall's head and pulled him in, our lips crashing together the same way our lives had five months ago. Even though we were already kissing, I leaned my head closer, wanting us to be together. I wanted every inch of our bodies to connect, even though mine had gotten so big. As we kissed, Kendall grabbed the seat adjuster, leaning us back until we were lying completely down. I giggled as I unbuckled his seatbelt, straddling him and kissing him as hard as I could, my hands running all over his body, wanting to feel every inch of him with my hands. He sat up slowly, our lips still locked, and opened the car door, and stepped out, pulling me into his arms. We kissed as he carried me into the house, up the stairs, and onto my bed. We kissed and cuddled until we fell asleep, and I woke up with the cold, ghostly, lonely feeling of Kendall's arms not around me. He was back in Washington, and I was here alone. But I loved him and I trusted him, and that was all that mattered.