Chapter 17

Because Monday was free, it was a long weekend. I just worked and made sure that I had enough money to take care of the house, and also had a buffer, in case something extraordinary happened. I called no-one and nobody called me. Not until Monday evening. Then I had call from Judy and Robin who were a bit worried about me. Even if we had not talked or been in contact, they had watched how I had been doing at school. They were sorry for not supporting me and the girls at the school, but I asked them not to feel bad about it. They had quite enough on their own plate. No extra hassles were needed.

School was as okay as it could be. Carmen was chuckling when she saw me at lunchtime, but she also made it clear that she was only interested in hearing the stories. I guaranteed that she would not hear them from me. Which caused Tammy and Cheryl to blush a bit. But that was it - and nobody outside us noticed. The rest of the week passed without any more incidents, which suited me fine, especially when the bad winter weather hit the area. It wasn't actually snowing, but the cold rain and wind matched my mood. Not that I had been THAT depressed - but outside the house it was even worse. For some unknown reason it made me feel slightly better. I wondered what the shrinks would get out of that.

It was quite late when I had done all my schoolwork for the next week. Suddenly my phone rang. No caller ID. I hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Eric."

Before anything else, there were sobs on the other end.

"Thank God you answered. Please can you pick me up? I could only remember your number. Please come."

And then there were more sobs. Marie. What in hell had happened?

"Marie, what is the problem - and where are you?"

She was in a payphone some miles away from her home. Beside, that, I could not get anything coherent out of her. I promised to come, asap.

Luckily the weather was so bad that the guys that might have been looking for lonely vulnerable girls remained inside somewhere, where there was a roof and four walls. Once I found the payphone she had been using, I soon found her leaning against a wall, nearby. She was soaking wet, cold, shaking, and without any decent clothes for being outside in this kind of weather. She was only wearing a light jacket, which was partly torn. I helped her to my car and put the heat on maximum, once I started the car and began driving home. I was driving much slower this time. She was just shivering and sobbing. I had a list of questions I wanted to ask her, but I put them on hold, for now.

I almost had to carry her inside, and once there she just couldn't stop trembling. Her skin was ice-cold and all her clothes wet. I carried her upstairs and all the way to the shower. Once there, I started removing her outer clothes. When she was in just her undies, I turned the shower on, starting with a cool temperature. Then I quickly stripped myself, as I didn't want to get all my own clothes wet, and I held her in the shower as I gradually raised the water temperature. It still must have hurt her a little, but finally I had the water in the shower almost hot. I undressed her fully, and washed her tangled dark hair. She was still sobbing but she didn't resist when I helped her out of the shower. I dried her and quickly combed her hair, once I put a robe on her. After that, I guided her to my bed.A I put her under the covers, still wearing the robe. The sobs had ended and she was just staring at me when I covered her.

I looked back at her. This was the girl who had been my first love, and who had been the first one to break my heart.

"Listen Marie, you are safe now. Can you now tell me what is wrong? Why were you out there in the middle of the night without decent clothes?"

Suddenly there were tears in those dark eyes, again.

"My parents. They... - they kicked me out of the house when they found out that I was pregnant."

And then she was sobbing again. I just took hold of her and pulled her to me. She was there, in her robe and under the covers, crying. I was on top of the covers, lying there naked, holding her. My mind was running from one emotion to another. I was angry. Angry about Anton who had escaped his responsibilities by dying. Angry at her parents who instead of supporting their daughter, kicked her out of their house. Angry at the fates or the Gods or whatever you want to believe in for messing up the life of a nice girl. I guess I was also angry at myself, for whatever reason. Then I was sorry. Sorry for her, since she would certainly not have deserved this, also I was sorry and frightened for myself, for this new kind of mess I had gotten myself into. While thinking all those things and many others I tried to soothe her by whispering to her ears.

"It will be okay, Marie. You aren't alone any more."

Like I would know anything about being pregnant or babies in general, but I guess that was what she needed to hear as her sobbing ended and breathing steadied itself. Suddenly I noticed that she was asleep. I lay there at her side for a moment, before rising and getting back into bathroom. I took her clothes and decided to wash them. She would probably need them tomorrow.

I put her clothes into the washer and cleaned up the mess we had created with our unorthodox entrance. Every once in a while I checked her status, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Then I gathered all the courage I had and made the call I feared. I called my aunty, and explained what had happened. She listened to me, made a few comments, and promised to come and visit next morning. Only after the call, did one of her remarks hit me: 'Condoms are not 100% sure.' Even if the child was most probably Anton's, there might be a possibility that it was mine.

It took quite a long time for me to get to sleep, whilst laying there under an extra blanket, beside Marie.

When I woke up I didn't immediately remember what had happened. Something just was different. Then it came back to me, and I turned my head to see Marie. She was already awake, watching me.

"You don't know, Eric how many times I have hoped that someday I would wake up with you beside me. Now, when it happens, I have ruined everything."

And the waterworks started again. I pulled her close to me, and started holding her and whispering in her ear.

"Marie, you are not alone. Not anymore. I promise to help you."

Finally I ended up holding her so that she was on the top of me. She had her robe partly open, and I was in my usual nightwear: skin. I kissed away the tears she was pouring over me. I could feel the warmth of her body and all the good memories ran through my brains when I kissed her gently. She responded hungrily and her robe opened some more. Between the kisses I could hear her snuffle.

"Please love me, love me once more..."

And then someone down there betrayed me. When she was on top of me I could feel her moistness on the head of my dick. We looked at each other when I slowly entered her. It was not supposed to happen but it felt so good, so good and so natural. Our mating didn't take long. She had her first orgasm when I was fully inside her and it didn't take me more than a few minutes to fill her with my seed. Once she felt I was coming, she came again. Finally, she was gasping for breath on top of me.

"Eric, what shall we do now?"

I knew quite well what she meant, but I also thought that the time for that discussion would be later.

"First I think that we should take shower, and then get some breakfast."

"Goof."

But there almost was a hint of a smile on her face. I guess it must have been the first for ages for her. Then the guilt hit me. She was here, alone and defenseless and what did I do? I just took advantage on her at the first moment possible. She noticed the change in me.

"I knew it. I'm already fat and ugly."

When she tried to pull herself away from me I took hold of her and pulled her tighter against me. Then she cried, and cried, and cried some more. All the time I just held her against my chest. At some point the sobs started to subside. I had not forgotten her last statement and I hoped that now she might be able to listen.

"Marie, you are by no means fat or ugly. You are pretty and sexy I just feel guilty that I took advantage of you."

"You had all those pretty girlfriends there at school with you."

"I have had only one girlfriend after you, Marie. The others were friends, and I hope they still are."

I may be dumb but I understood that this was not the moment to start discussing about friends with benefits.

"But you must hate me. Especially now."

And the tears came again. Did I hate her? I didn't know. Did I still care about her? I certainly did. I didn't know if I could handle all this right now. But I did know that right now I had to support her. I cupped her face with my hands and kissed her several times, first the tears and then her nose and mouth. My active actions also rewoke someone who made a new contact with her butt. Traitor.

"My dear Marie, there are lots of issues, and we cannot and don't need to solve them right now. My aunty is coming here this morning. We can talk with her, but you know her and I think that you wouldn't want her to find us like this. At least, I would not like it."

She actually started to giggle. Talk about 'an emotional rollercoaster!' We went to shower together and I could not help running my hand on her stomach and there actually was a small hump. But my action almost caused her to start to cry again. Which in turn made me to kiss her and pull her close. And the result of my action was - well, we found out that my aunty had got tired of standing outside and used her own key. She made some coffee while she waited for us downstairs in the kitchen.

If the robes we were wearing didn't give a clear enough indication about our recent activities, the way Marie was blushing did. On the other hand, if my aunty had come early enough, she probably heard us - or rather Marie, but for once, she didn't have any impish remarks, for which I was very grateful. She just rose her eyebrows.

"So, you two are together again, I guess?"

I hesitated for a moment but then I decided to be honest. Totally honest. I looked at Marie while I answered.

"I don't know, yet. Maybe. There are still things we haven't discussed it, but that is not urgent. What is important right now, is that Marie has been rejected by her parents. She needs all the support she can get. As her friend and someone who cares a whole lot about her, I'd like to make sure she gets some support."

Marie's eyes looked moist and my auntie's - amused. Great. But luckily besides that she was all business.

"Fine. Now, Marie, tell us what actually happened?"

I sat down beside her, hugged her, and then she started talking. Her voice trembled in the beginning but her voice steadied once she got started. When we had broken up in October, her parents started to suspect something. She was able to keep her visit to the hospital from them, but as there were some rumors going on, they decided to restrict her freedom. She was not allowed to date or go anywhere, apart from the meetings with the church people.

Her mother had kept a track on her trash and suspected that she had not menstruated for a few months. They finally made her admit it, and then the hell really started. First they were angry to her for ruining the reputation of their family. Since the rumors had already started, a secret abortion was not an option. Then they started arranging her marriage with a much older second cousin living in a rural area a few hundred miles away. When she declared that she would never marry him, they abandoned her by saying that she was 'a whore of Babylon, ' who would not have a place in their house. Ever.

She didn't have anything else but the clothes she was wearing. No papers, no phone - nothing. I picked up her clothes from the dryer and they were really not something you would need while going outside in bad weather. There was no amusement in my auntie's eyes when Marie finished, just anger. However, her voice was soft when she talked to her.

"Marie, have you seen a doctor about your pregnancy?"

"No. But I'm sure I'm pregnant."

"You still need to see a doctor. I can arrange it for you, and I'm sure Eric, here, is willing to go with you."

Like I had some choice after that? I just nodded, and Marie smiled a bit and squeezed my hand slightly. My aunty sighed and continued.

"There is another thing I'd ask you to do. I take it that you don't want to go back to your parents?"

"After what they said and did to me? No! Never!"

Now there was some fire back in her voice. A bit more like the Marie I remembered. My aunty nodded.

"Ok, where would you like to live, then? Here, with Eric ... or perhaps with me? Or would you like to check your possibilities with foster care? As far as I remember you both will be eighteen at the beginning of your senior year."

Marie was silent for a moment. The she looked at me while she answered.

"If possible, and if Eric agrees, I'd like to stay here with him. I certainly don't want to go into foster care."

I smiled at her and nodded slightly while squeezing her hand. When I turned to my aunty, I was sure there was some mirth in her eyes - but there seemed to be some sadness, too. She nodded to us.