Best of Women

Pippa

Living with the Mirandas felt right, and having Carmen move in felt right. The next weekend, she moved her stuff into Sebastian's room. We bought a Queen-sized bed and gave his old bed to Goodwill. After Carmen had gotten settled in, Pippa and I called a meeting with them.

"So..." Lin began. "When the baby comes, obviously it will need to a place for the crib and everything else babies come with."

"Well, we're planning on having a little bassinet to begin with," Carmen said. "Since it'll be up during the night a lot. The baby can just be right by our bed."

I nodded in agreement. "That will work well. Your room isn't that big, though. I'm not sure if there's room to fit a crib and dressing table in there."

"Well, we don't have to have a changing table. We could have one of those portable changers and change it on the floor."

"True," I agreed. "It'll have clothes and toys and tons of other stuff. You guys will get too cramped in there. We were thinking about the bay window in the living room."

We all looked over there. Right now, it had a recliner and side table. It was a cozy little corner for reading. A crib and a couple things could possibly fit in there.

"That could work," Sebastian said. "That way we'd still have room to move around in my room."

Lin nodded. "As the baby gets older and you guys go to college, we'll have to work something else out, but for now I think it would work."

"Now, how are you gonna handle child care when you're at school?" I asked them. Carmen and Sebastian looked between each other.

"Well, I'm thinking of dropping out and getting my GED," Carmen said hesitantly.

"Don't do that," I begged her. "You deserve to finish high school like a regular kid. We're here to help you."

"But I don't want to be a burden," she said. "If I do my GED online I can be home with the baby and finish in my own time."

"And what? Sebastian would continue?" Lin asked. Sebastian nodded his head. I didn't like the sound of that. Call me a feminist, but I didn't think the woman should be the one to give up her life to raise a baby.

"Well, we need to look into programs for teenage mothers," I said. "There's all kinds of support out there, I'm sure. Carmen, you need to finish high school."

She looked at me, pursing her lips a bit, as if she wasn't sure. We finished up our conversation and I managed to corner Carmen a while later.

"Listen, Carmen," I said to her in a low voice. "You cannot drop out of school for this baby. There are working mothers out there that can do it. It's gonna be hard, but you can do it too. Your education is still important."

"I know," she sighed. "But everyone's bending over backwards to help me and I just feel guilty. I don't want your lives to be disrupted because I got pregnant. That's not fair to you."

"And it's not fair to you for Sebastian to finish high school like normal and you stay home," I told her firmly. "Sebastian does not come before you."

After our chat, I hopped onto the computer and began researching programs in New York City that helped teen mothers. I found one that offered free child care in return for volunteering one weekend a month. I called Carmen over to look at it and she seemed encouraged.

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The next few months seemed to pass by quickly. Carmen was definitely showing and she looked beautiful. I passed on clothes from my friends to her. Sebastian continued to be very supportive and sweet with her. The living arrangement seemed to work out well, apart from the lack of bathrooms. There was a constant battle for the bathroom.