#3 Young and Reckless in Chicago

Chapter 32: Ready or Not

Skylar woke up on a leather coach, groaning as she sat up. It had been a week since she told Erin about what happened to her. She had been staying with her Aunt Erin and Uncle Jay since while Corin and Kelly went on a second honey moon.

She felt two arms wrap around. She looked up and saw her Uncle Jay smiling down at her. She laid her head on his shoulder, tired.

"How are you doing?" asked Jay, concerned about his niece.

"I'm fine. I miss mom and dad of course. Then there's the whole thing about my little freak attack," sighed Skylar.

"Yeah, Erin told me you freaked out because you had a nightmare."

"Yeah she even told mom and dad for me. Don't tell anyone but Aunt Erin is my favorite aunt."

"Awe! Well don't tell your siblings but your my favorite niece," smiled Erin before kissing Skylar on the top of the head.

Suddenly the door burst open and two people walked in. Skylar turned and saw her parents standing on the doorway. She ran over and hugged Kelly, causing him to laugh.

"I missed you baby girl," whispered Kelly into her ear as he held her tight.

"What am I chopped liver?" teased Corin with a smile before Skylar went over and hugged her.

"Where's my sister's and brother?" asked Skye, curious.

"We decided to pick you up first before getting the other kids. I mean I know what too much time spent with your Uncle Jay can do," playfully joked Corin as Jay scowered at her.

"Well you weren't a treat either. You were a basically a tomboy so you always wanted to go to the shooting range with me, even if I wanted to go alone with my friends," smirked Jay, feeling undefeated.

"We did have so pretty good times at that range," replied Corin, reminsensing.

She leaned into her older brother smiling. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, thinking back to their days at the range with a smile on his face.

"Yeah little sis, we did."

"Well we're gonna go stop by Eva's to go meet baby Luna," grinned Corin, leaving with her husband and her daughter.

As they were getting in the car Skylar told them she left something in the house so she'd have an excuse to go back in. When she opened the door she saw her aunt fixing the couch. She ran over to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"Thank you Auntie Erin. For everything."

"Of course angel. Anything for you."

A few blocks away Juliana was sat on the couch with Kim sitting next to her. Adam had taken the kids downtown, but Juliana didn't want to go. Now was her chance to finally tell her mother the secret she'd been harboring. Juliana took a deep breathe before turning to face Kim.

"Hey mom. Can we talk?" hesitantly asked Juliana.

"Of course!" smiled Kim as she shoved her phone in her pocket and faced her daugter, "What's up sweetie?"

"So I've been dating Daniel. For three months now," admitted Juliana, deciding to take it piece by piece.

"Oh ok," replied a slightly surprised Kim, "Just be careful. Okay sweetie? I don't want you getting hurt. Daniel's a good kid, he's just a little reckless sometimes.

Juliana teared up as she tried to force the next part out of her mouth, "Mom..."

"What's wrong?" asked Kim as she noticed her daughter's tears and pulled her to her.

"Mom I'm pregnant," admitted a crying Juliana.

"Oh Juliana," sighed Kim, finally understanding everything that had happened lately.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry mom. I'm a screwup."

"No baby girl. You made a mistake, but you're not a screw up. Don't ever say that," sternly reminded Kim as she lifted Juliana's chin so their eyes met.

"What am I gonna do?"

"Well do you wanna keep the baby? Or get an abortion?"

"I don't wanna kill it. I mean this baby is part me," replied Juliana as she attempted to stop the tears.

"Okay then that's all we need to know right now. First thing we have to do is book a doctor's appointment to get the baby checked," explained Kim as she scribbled a reminder on the notepad in front of her.

"Mom, are you mad at me?" asked Juliana, holding back tears.

"Of course not sweetheart," smiled Kim as she tucked a piece of Juliana's hair behind her ear, "Do I wish you would have waited to have sex? Yes. Do I wish you would have been safer? Of course I do. And God knows I wouldn't have dreamt of Daniel Voight being the father of my grandchild."

Juliana laughed as she wiped the final tears off her cheeks. Kim chuckled as well, holding her daughter's hand.

"He really is a nice guy mom. I really like him."

"Well thats all that matters."

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them as they soaked everything in. Juliana enjoyed just getting to sit with her mother.

"Dad's gonna kill me, isn't he?" questioned Juliana, breaking the silence.

"Oh you're a dead woman. You're just lucky you told me first. I have ways of calming your father down when he angry," smirked Kim, biting back a laugh.

"Ew mom! And you better be careful. We don't need anymore babies around here," sassed Juliana with a smile.

"Watch it young lady. I'm still not completely happy with you."

"Yeah but you love me. And dad loves me. You can't be mad at me for too long."

"You're right. But baby girl, this is gonna change your whole life. School's gonna be different, your eating habits gonna change, even your friends are gonna change. You're gonna find out real quick who your real friends are. It's gonna be hard, especially once you have a baby to take care of.

"Well then it's good thing I'm pretty damn strong."