Not Another Teen Pregnancy Story

Chapter Eight Letting Daniel In

"What is this all about?" Daniel asked as he lounged on his bed. We had been sitting in silence for roughly three minutes. I hadn't known exactly where to start. So, I had been going over various scenarios in my head. 

"I uh..." As you can pick up, I haven't made much progress. I folded my arms over my chest, frustrated with myself.

"Are my eyes deceiving me? Or am I seeing Lydia Hawley speechless?" I gave him an ugly look. "Okay, that was rude of me. I apologize. Now, please, tell me what I owe the special honor of your company."

I wetted my lips and tried to form the right way to say this.

That's when I realized, there was no right way of saying this. It was ugly, awful and gritty. It had to be said though.

"Daniel, I'm not sure how to say this, so my apologies if this is... blunt." I took a deep breath in and in a rush said: "I'm pregnant." He jumped up off his bed. His hands went to his hair, nearly pulling it out. The look on his face was a mixture of: fear, shock, worry, and anxiety.

"There's no way it's not mine, is there?" I had expected this question, but in a meaner form. I just shook my head no. My voice wasn't working at all. I felt tears prickle my eyes. The tears finally fell, that's when Daniel snapped into normal mode. "Oh, Lydia it'll be okay." He sat back down and started to rub my back as I cried. 

This was not what I thought would happen.

"How can you not hate me?" I asked him through sobs. 

"Ly, come on don't be ridiculous." How was it ridiculous for him to hate me? I hate broken up with him and then ended up getting pregnant. He had been starting to love me and I threw it in his face and made him leave. I would hate myself if that happened to me.

"I'm serious! I would hate myself. I do hate myself." I didn't mean to say the last part. Daniel reached over to wipe away my tears. An act I thought adorable only now.

"I think you should stop hating yourself so we can talk about the baby." He said "the baby" too. Not our baby. Which, I understand, I don't even claim the baby as mine.

"Okay, I'm okay. Lets talk." He nodded and I turned to face him.

"Uh well, how do you know you're pregnant?" He stumbled over the word pregnant.

"I took some pregnancy test from the grocery store, and then Beth and Chris talked me into going to this clinic to see if I was for sure pregnant. The doctor told me I was one month pregnant. She also told me that until I was around ten weeks pregnant I shouldn't get my hopes up because I could have a miscarriage." He nodded like this all made sense.

"Okay, that's good. I mean not good, but you know. Good. Wow, okay so I'm not the best at this. I-

"Neither am I."

"Well I wish I would've went to the doctors with you." I was shocked by this. He wanted to go to the doctors with me?

"Really?" I was baffled.

"Yeah really, I wish I would've been there rather than Bethany and Christin." He cracked his knuckles. "Anyways, that's not important anymore. So how many months are you right now?" I counted in my head.

"Seven weeks." He nodded. So I was just about two months. Or technically in my two months section. Oh my God, I had seven months left. That seemed so crazy to me. If I didn't get an abortion.

"You know at nine weeks you're three months pregnant?" I raised an eyebrow, how did he know?

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I tried not to sound bitter.

"My mom." I still looked clueless. "Ethan and Hailey." I looked even more clueless. "My younger siblings?" I blushed slightly. He had siblings? Okay, so maybe that was a big deal, and I should've known that.

"Oh yeah. I er forgot." I lied.

"No you didn't. I never told you, but anyways when she was pregnant with Ethan I was ten and when she was pregnant with Hailey I was twelve. To say the least, I know some stuff." I rolled my eyes.

"What are we going to do?" The question slipped out while I wasn't paying attention.

"What do you mean?" Now, it was his turn to be confused.

"Are we keeping the baby, are we giving it up for adoption or am I getting an abortion?" When I finished his face flushed red and he went from sadness to anger in a nanosecond.

"You're thinking about aborting my first born child? Our first child. Why?" That's when I remembered: Daniel's family was Christian. Look, I'm not the anti-Christ and I do believe in God, I just haven't went to church for a few years. There is nothing wrong with being Christian and I would count myself a Christian, just not a very good one.

"I wasn't seriously thinking about it, but I've been considering it." It was honesty hour and the spotlight was on me.

"I think we can take care of a baby. Between the two of us I think we can. I know my parents would help, I don't know about your parents-

"It's just my dad. My mom died a long time ago." He pursed his lips like he was trying to find a way for him to keep talking and say something about my mom.

"I'm sorry to hear that, my dad left my family a long time ago too. He's not dead though. Financially we're stable for like eight kids!" I gave him a shocked look. "I'm not saying we're going to have eight kids or anything." 

"I know that, but what about my reputation?" Was that all I was worried about? Obviously Daniel wasn't worried about our parents or money and those were the main things about raising a child. So why was I still considering adoption and abortion? Because I'm shallow and superficial.

"You have enough money you could get private tutoring if you're really worried about what other people think." I heard the judgment in his words.

"Okay, but still-

"Still what? I don't think there is any reason for an abortion. It wasn't rape and there isn't an issue about the baby's life at stake if you carry the baby full term." Everything he was saying was right. It didn't make it any easier. It didn't make me wanna have a baby any more than I had when I walked into his house.

"I don't want a baby." I almost started to cry again. Daniel grabbed me in a hug and I let him. I guess sometimes you have to let your guard down and let people in. No matter how hard it is.

"I know you don't, I know you don't. Think of all the positives: this baby is going to be the prettiest baby ever. You know why? Because you're the mommy." He kissed my forehead and rocked me until I fell asleep.