South-Side Renascent || c.g.

Wait, What?

Carl

Oh no. Those words attached to tears never meant anything good.

"What happened? Did something happen to you?" She started to sob and my anxiety skyrocketed. "Baby?"

"Who am I kidding? Why did I think I could just tell you? I'm such an idiot," she cried. I was beyond confused.

"Cailee, talk to me."

"Promise me you won't get upset," Fuck, she'd met someone else, hadn't she? Someone better. I just knew it.

"If you found somebody new, just tell me now."

She stood up and glared down at me, "What?"

I stood up too, "Well, what else am I supposed to not get mad over, Cailee?"

"You seriously think I'd do that to you? After all we've been through," she said, raising her voice a bit. I sighed and looked down.

"No... I don't," I stood and tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it away. "Cailee, come on. I didn't mean it." She just scoffed and pulled something out of her pocket.

She handed me a tiny picture, "Here." I looked at the photo in my hand. "It's an ultrasound," I was even more confused, then it clicked in my brain.

"Ohhhh, you weren't supposed to show me this, right?"

"Huh?" she questioned.

"Debbie's secret that I'm not supposed to know," I mean, duh. "I'd almost forgotten- well not forgotten- I jus-"

"-I'm pregnant."

"I- wait, w-what?" Did I hear that correctly? Are my ears playing tricks on me?

"Take a look for yourself, then," She pointed to her name in the top right corner. I looked at her name—hard. I hadn't even noticed the small print before. Suddenly, I'd forgotten how to breathe.

"Holy fucking shit, Cailee..."

"Found out on our damn anniversary, after Debbie forced me to take a test," she huffed. No wonder she'd been acting so fucking strange since then. "Went to the doctor today."

I was speechless, trying to process the information. A million things were running through my mind at once.

Cailee— pregnant. What?

"Carl, say something," she said barely above a whisper. I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms. She hugged me back, burying her face in the crook of my neck. "I don't know what to do."

I pulled back to look at her, "What do you mean?"

"Carl, we're only 18. We can barely take care of ourselves, let alone a baby," Was she alluding to what I thought she was? "I mean, come on."

"You're not talking about getting an abortion, are you?"

She looked down, "Adoption?"