Rebel

Chapter 18: When You Love

"Wait! I can't lay here fighting the urge to puke!" I yelled at Danny. "And so it begins," he said rolling his eyes while flopping to the other side of the bed. His head had been buried between my legs for the last twenty minutes and all of a sudden, my stomach turned. Little did he know, it had already began and at this point, it was already in full force."I'm fine I promise," I said rolling over to him for a kiss. "Nooooo! If you're going to puke, I don't want it to happen while your mouth is attached to mine!"

I was still somewhat walking on eggshells. I was always secretly defensive. I made sure that I always watched his every move and paid close attention to his emotions. So far, he had kept his word. He was kinder and more gentle. It almost felt like he was afraid that he was going to break me if he got too close. I'd find myself in a wild state of paranoia as I adjusted to the idea of not being so small in a few months. I didn't know how he would look at me once I looked like there was a watermelon stuffed underneath my shirt.

Danny held me tight, taking me by surprise. He always flipped back and forth between treating me like glass and hugging me until he squeezed the air out of my lungs. He stroked my hair. "You know we have to tell your parents," he said softly. I knew for a fact that they would lose their shit. They don't see me for what seems like forever and then, SURPRISE, I'm pregnant. "I know. Dad will take it easier than Mom will. He's always been a little bit more understanding and open, but what can either of them do? What can they say? I'll be a senior this year, I'm eighteen, and I'm not against working." It made me a little sad to think about sharing something so life-changing with my mom. We never had the relationship that I always wanted and there were more than a few times that I wished she would actually see me as more than just a shadow. All I ever wanted was for her to want to be my very best friend.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't want you to work. Do you know how much stress that can put on the baby?" Here we go. I knew he couldn't possibly think that he could make enough money to support the three of us. Not legally anyway and anything else would have been out of the question. "Don't go prostituting to feed our family," I said with a laugh. He shook his head. "You don't have to worry about that, I have us covered." I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. "And I love you so much for that."

Danny waited on me hand and foot. He was making sure that nothing could put me at risk for losing another baby. I wasn't as freaked out about something going wrong, but I could tell that he was being considerate anyway. The reality of everything was beginning to set in and I was easing into the idea of the entire county knowing that we would be welcoming a baby soon. There would be whispers and rumors, but that was the least of my worries. Once my parents found out, I didn't care who the hell knew. I didn't even care if it got back to Dean. They were the only ones that I had to answer to regardless of how many times I tried to defy them. I could only hope that once and for all, they would make me the center of their universe and I wouldn't have to question how much they loved me.

Whether I was ready for it or not, it was time for us to fill them in about what my future was going to hold and they were either going to love me unconditionally, or shut me out for good. Either way, I've known for a very long time who would always stand in my corner. Now I could only hope that my parents would join them.

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"Stop being so jumpy," Danny hissed at me as we waited in the booth at Pizza Hut for my mom and dad. I made a bold move by reaching out to them, asking if they could meet up with Danny and I for dinner."I can't help it. How are we supposed to tell them?" I asked nervously. He rested his hand on my knee to calm my nerves and the smell of pizza was making my mouth water. That was my first craving. Every night, I had to have a large pepperoni pizza whether I would end up puking it all back up or not. Some nights I craved buffalo chicken wings and some nights Icraved hot pockets. With all of that eating, I was beginning to get a little bit of a belly and Danny loved every minute of it.