Chapter 6

Pregnant. P R E G N A N T. Pregnant. That word echoed in my mind like a ringing gong. I suppose it was inevitable. We’d been having unprotected sex all summer. Our moment together was interrupted by my aunt letting us know there was cake inside. Did I eat any? I really don’t remember. All I could think about was what Nicole had told me. She was pregnant; pregnant with our child.

We didn’t talk for the next two days. I had no idea what tot say, and I was too scared to message her. I guess she felt the same because she didn’t text or call me. Then Wednesday night my phone rang. It was her.

“Matt?” She said softly.

“Yeah, honey?”

“Can we hang out tomorrow? I miss you ... and we really need to talk.”

“Yeah we do,” I said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Um...” she paused and thought. “The park?”

“Works for me,” I answered. “Noon? I’ll bring lunch.”

“That sounds great.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The next day my mom drove me to the park. I pick up Burger King for our lunch. I’ll admit it’s more than a little embarrassing to have your mom drive you to see your girlfriend, but when you don’t have a driver’s license or a car, what other choice do you have.

When I got there I got out of the car and saw Nicole sitting at a picnic table under the shade of a tree. I sat down across from her and starting getting our food on the bag.

“I got you a Whopper,” I said as I handed her a burger.

“Thanks,” she replied and took the burger.

“So...” I said nervously.

She just nodded. “Yeah.”

I looked around to make sure no one we knew was around then I asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m keeping it.”

“I thought you probably would,” I replied. “Do your parents know?”

She shook her head. “No ... I wanted to wait and tell them together.”

“Why do you need to tell them to-”

I stopped mid sentence as I realized what she meant.

“You’re going to tell them about us, aren’t you?” “I don’t think we have any other choice,” she answered.

“Why not? You could tell them it was anyone.”

“Matt, you’re the only guy I’ve ever been with,” she argued.

“Well they don’t know that,” I insisted. “Tell them it was ... a guy at a party. I don’t know!”

“They’d never believe it. They know I haven’t been to any parties and they know I haven’t been hanging out with any boys since band camp.”

“Band camp!” I exclaimed. “That’s perfect! You can tell them it was a boy at band camp.”

She shook her head and took a bit of her burger. “I already thought about that. If I tell them it was a boy in band they’ll want to know who. And then someone else would get in trouble for what we did.”

I sighed. No matter how much I fought it, she was right. We had to tell our family about our love affair and all that we’d done together. It was going to suck, but we decided the best thing to do was to just get it over with. We made a plan to get our whole family together that weekend and we’d tell them all at once.

The night of the family meeting came and we very timidly explained the situation to our parents and grandparents. Nicole started off by announcing that she was pregnant. This was met with a stunned silence. I thought I was dead for certain when my uncle asked who the father was and I told him it was me.

We told them about our secret relationship and how we’d been having sex all summer. The most painful part was the disappointment hat crossed our grandma’s face when she found out her house was our love nest. We told them that we were in love and that we had a crazy plan to run away and get married after high school.

When we were done, we just stood there in silence, waiting for a response. Grandma was the first to say anything.

“I just ... don’t know what to say,” she said in a tone that evoked anger, disappointment, and sadness all at once.

Then Nicole’s mother spoke up.

“I think that what happened is understandable,” she started. “You two have always been close. And no one can blame you for your ... sexual feelings. You’re teenagers.”

I bit my lip. So far this wasn’t going as bad I thought it would.

“I think Matt should move in with us,” she continued.

“What?!” Exclaimed my mother. “You’re encouraging this?!”

My aunt was resolute in her words. “This is Matt’s child too. And he is going to help raise it. That means being there for the child every day once it’s born, and taking care of Nicole through her pregnancy. And they’ll get married as soon as they’re able.”

“They’re just kids!” My dad interjected. “We can’t make them get married.”

“If they want to play at being a couple, they might as well make it official,” said my aunt.

“They’re fifteen!”

“I’ll do it,” I said.

Everyone’s eyes were locked on me. Nicole squeezes my hand.

“This is what we wanted, anyway,” I continued. “It’s just happening sooner than we planned. And we don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”

“Matt are you sure about this?” My dad asked. “Marriage is forever.”

“I’m sure. I love Nicole.” I looked into her eyes. “And I love our baby.”

So that’s what we did. I moved in with Nicole’s family and we lived in her bedroom. It was a bit of an adjustment. I missed my parents, and I missed Jenna. I guess I didn’t realize how attached i was to her. But she came over all the time to play with Kitty.