Kehlani Vale was pregnant with Paul Lahote's baby, the only problem, she wasn't his imprint. It was a relationship gone wrong. She was in a situation she never thought she would ever be in, pregnant and clueless. This was like a real-life version of...
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Kehlani had begun to attend school again and was almost a month and a half into her pregnancy. She knew who she had to tell, she knew she had to let the rest of her family know, she knew she had to let Paul know and she knew that as soon as she did that his friends would know and eventually the whole school. It was most probable that the school wouldn't actually discover she was pregnant until she began to show and even then she just hoped they thought she was getting fat. If that was the case they would surely discover the situation when she actually gave birth and had a child she had to take to daycare and collect. Word spread fast where she lived and God she wished it didn't.
Kehlani had begun to wear primarily leggings and skater skirts with an elastic waist as she was growing slightly. Not so much that it was noticeable but enough that it meant she had to watch what she wore. Her jeans were officially too tight and she hated that.
It was a Saturday and Kehlani had gathered her family in the living room. Her mom stood with her as she waited for them to silence themselves. Once they did she began speaking.
"So, I decided to tell you altogether about something," she announced. "I want you all to keep an open mind and to not hate me after I say this."
"You're not pregnant are you?" Miguel joked, oblivious to the truth of his words. Kehlani went quiet, staring at her older brother, unsure of how to respond. "You're not pregnant are you?" He repeated this time his voice was harsher, filled with venom at the thought of his little sister becoming a mom. He wasn't annoyed at her, he was annoyed at whoever got her pregnant and the fact they weren't standing next to her as she told the news.
"I am," she whispered, her voice hoarse and weak. It broke her brothers heart to hear the defeat in her voice. Valeria, on the other hand, was not shocked.
"Valeria? Anything to say?" Andrea asked. The young girl shrugged and turned to Kehlani.
"Your clothes stopped fitting, and you've thrown up your breakfast for the past few weeks, I'm not blind or stupid, I know what it means," Valeria told, standing to hug her sister. "I'm young, not stupid," she repeated.
"I never thought you were," Kehlani reassured. "You're much smarter than me."
There was a long pause as she hugged her siblings.
"Gabriel already knew because he found the test and Kehlani told me," Andrea told the family. "But she's going to need your help these next nine months and for a while afterwards," she explained.
"We're a family so we stick together," Miguel comforted. "I do have a question though. Is it Paul's?"
"Yeah," Kehlani answered.
"I'll fuck him up for leaving you," Miguel threatened.
"Watch your language," Andrea scolded.
"He doesn't know yet," Kehlani told.
"I say we beat him up if he says he doesn't want to help," Gabriel suggested. "Who's with me?" Everyone just stared at him in disbelief. "No one? Okay?" With that, he sat back down.
"So when do you plan to tell Paul?" Valeria asked.
"After school Monday," Kehlani replied.
---
Monday morning came around quicker than Kehlani wanted and she was standing by Paul's locker waiting for him to arrive at school.
She stood impatiently with Andi and Hallie across the school hallway, watching her as she tapped her foot. Again, this was another situation where the patience she prided herself in had dissipated and she was left wanting to scream at how long everything was taking. Maybe it was the hormones, she didn't know but she hated it.
The first bell rung and students crowded the hallway and Paul was amongst those. Of course, he had Jared with him and Kehlani felt her stomach drop. She couldn't back out now, she needed to tell him.
He arrived at his locker and saw the shorter girl standing there, her arms crossed. He frowned, knowing she was still annoyed with him for leaving her. So why was she there?
He stopped in front of her, waiting for her to speak. Jared was next to him.
"Can I speak to you in private?" She asked, her tone full of annoyance.
"Why?" Paul questioned.
"Because I asked you to and it's important, so either you follow me out of these doors so we can talk away from everyone listening or you can stay here and never find out what I need to say," she ranted, glaring at him. There was a pause before she turned and walked out of the school.
Paul followed behind her as she slammed the doors open and made her way to her car. She stood there, watching as Paul caught up with her.
"I can either tell you here or somewhere else, your choice," she told.
"Here's fine."
Kehlani took a deep breath, her stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of telling him. It has to be like ripping off a band-aid. She could this. She had to tell it how it was, put it simply.
"I'm pregnant," she blurted. She watched as Paul's face turned from one of curiosity to one of pure shock. "And you're the father."
He didn't say anything, he just stood there frozen.
"Are you gonna say something, tell me you're going to help? Anything?"
Again he didn't reply and she felt her heartbreak. Of course, he didn't want to help.
"Whatever," she muttered, moving to get into her car. She quickly drove away, skipping school. She cried as she drove. Why did she think he'd be okay with this? He left her, he didn't want anything to do with her. He wanted to get away and now she'd roped him back in because she managed to get pregnant. God, why did she have to be so stupid?
No. It wasn't her fault. She got pregnant and it was a two person job. She needed to stop doing this. She needed to stop thinking of it in a negative light. Sure, it would be difficult and sure, she had no idea what she was doing but she was not going to be upset about this. Babies were a gift and she had always wanted a child. Yes, she wanted to wait until marriage (in her mid-twenties at least) but it happened and she had to be grateful. No one was at fault. It wasn't a mistake.
She could do this. She wasn't alone. She had her family and Andi and Hallie. She didn't need Paul. The baby would have a Grandma and Aunt's and Uncle's, they didn't need a dad. Kehlani hadn't had a dad and she was fine, she had a loving mom and great siblings. The child would have everything that they needed.
