Always With Me

Part 32- Dahlia Parker

Once the craziness of prom was over, life went back to normal. April turned to May and my stomach went from the size of a soccer ball to the size of a basketball. Although graduation was right around the corner, the progression of my pregnancy had not slowed down a single bit. I was always hungry now, but even the slightest bit of food made me feel sick. When I wasn't fighting nausea, I was fighting a headache. The signs of the end of a pregnancy were beginning to take over, and I was more ready now than ever to have my baby.

Ever since prom, Brent and I had been almost inseparable. With a baby coming in a month, we had a lot that needed to be done. Our relationship had been mended by that simple fact. It was the night before graduation, and I was spending time at Brent's house with he and his mom. She was talking nonstop about the baby and about how excited she was that she was going to finally be a grandmother. She was walking back and forth in the kitchen, living room area with a bag of clothes that she had bought our daughter in her arms.

"I went shopping today," she said as she pulled quite a few outfits out of the bags. There had to be at least twenty outfits sitting in front of us, each small enough to lay on my thigh.

"I can tell. You've been shopping a lot lately," Brent said as he grabbed a small pink onesie with white dots all over it. It was a tiny outfit, and I eyed with with a grin on my face. My eyes trailed over to the corner of the room where I saw another huge stack of baby clothes that she'd bought. I would say that she'd gone a little overboard, but I was too relieved that she'd done it to care. My daughter was already blessed.

"Thank you so much," I said as I grabbed a small, green onesie with flowers on it. "It is hard to believe that she is going to be this small."

"I know! She is going to be beautiful," Ms. Harwood said as she sat down on the chair in front of us.

"I am so excited to meet her," I said. Brent put the outfit down and leaned his head against the back of the couch.

"I am, too." Brent said.

"Reagan is going with me next week to get some more things that we will need. Like diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers. All of that stuff."

"Do you need for me to come?" Brent asked. I smiled.

"If you want to," I told him.

"I do," he smiled at me. His mom walked out of the room, which left us alone together. It felt odd being alone with Brent again.

"Alright, then." I said. We were still watching each other intently, and I couldn't find the courage to look away. I liked what I saw when I looked at him now.

"We graduate tomorrow," Brent said, excitedly.

"I can't believe it," I said quietly. A new wave of panic rushed over me as I began to think about what next year brought. Where were Brent and I going to be next year? I knew that I was going to take a year off to stay with my baby, and then possibly go to a local community college and commute. But where would Brent be? The idea of doing this alone scared me. Almost as if he knew where my mind had wandered, he stood up.

"Dahlia, I'm not playing football next year. I turned down the football scholarship to Ole Miss. If I go there, I won't be here. I can't leave you, and I can't leave our daughter. No matter what I've done up until this point, I can't do anything like that to hurt you again. I am going to spend every single day for the rest of my life trying to make it up to you." Brent said. I took a few long seconds to get off of the couch, but I walked over and pulled him into a massive hug. My stomach was in between us, but I could feel his warmth very clearly covering my entire body. When I pulled away, I realized that I had begun crying.