"I'm home!" Mangeni McKinley-Price called out, walking through the front door of the house.
"In here, sweetie!" Connor McKinley called from the kitchen.
Mangeni was the adopted daughter of Connor McKinley and Kevin Price, who had met during a mission in Uganda. She was their absolute pride and joy, and now a senior in high school, her parents were afraid of losing their precious girl. Still, Connor and Kevin relished in every day they still had left with her.
"Hey, Papa," Mangeni said, kissing Connor on the cheek. "What's that?"
"Oh I found this under our bed," Connor said chuckling, clutching a photograph in his hand. "Remember this?" he asked, handing the photo to Mangeni.
"Oh my God! It's from that time daddy fell asleep and we gave him a makeover!"
"Yeah!" Connor said laughing. "Your father is so easy to prank."
"Sure is," Mangeni said. "So what're you up to today?"
"Well, I have a baby shower for a co-worker tomorrow and I need to run to the mall and buy the baby some gifts. Wanna come with? I could use the help!"
"Yeah!" Mangeni said, picking up her purse. "Totally. Let's go."
Connor slipped on a jacket and followed Mangeni towards the front door. Suddenly she stopped, a light bulb going off in her head.
"Oh my God, Papa! I just had such a good idea!"
"What is it?"
"Wanna prank daddy?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Connor asked with an evil smirk. "What were you thinking?"
A few hours later, Kevin Price arrived home from work to an empty house. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called out. After hearing no response, he shrugged and went to the living room and flipped on the TV.
"Let's see what trashy TV is on today," Kevin said to himself. He flipped through a dozen or so channels until he finally made his decision. "Oh god, 16 and Pregnant!" he commented with a smirk. Kevin watched the show for a few minutes until the front door opened again.
"Kevin?" Connor called out. "You home?"
"In here, hon," Kevin called out.
Connor and Mangeni walked into the room, each carrying several bags of baby clothes and items.
"Hi, daddy," Mangeni said. "What're you watching?"
"16 and Pregnant," Kevin said laughing. "You know, that show about the teenage girls that ruin their lives by getting knocked up."
Connor and Mangeni turned to each other and squealed. Kevin looked on, a perplexed look on his face.
"Um… are you too ok?" Kevin asked.
"Better than ok!" Mangeni replied ecstatically. "Daddy, I have some news."
"And… what would that be?"
Mangeni placed one of the bags on the ground and pulled out a small pink jumper designed for a baby. She held it up for Kevin to see.
"I don't think I-"
"I'M PREGNANT," Mangeni exclaimed.
Kevin only stared at Mangeni, the color slowly leaving his body, living him looking a pale green color. He slowly shifted his attention to Connor. "Connor… our daughter just told us she's… pregnant."
"I know, isn't it exciting?" Connor beamed.
"EXCITING?" Kevin screeched out, now beginning to turn red with anger.
"Oh, Kevin!" Connor sighed, walking over to Kevin. "You know how we always talked about having another baby? Well this is our chance! We can raise the baby like it was ours! But really we'll be GRANDPARENTS! This is gonna be so FUN!"
"SHE'S NOT EVEN 18!" Kevin shouted, standing up off of the couch. "Ok, you," Kevin said in a low and seething tone, walking over to Mangeni, who was still happy as a clam. "Who… did… this."
"Oh jeez, how should I know?" Mangeni said dismissively. Kevin turned to Connor. "CONNOR HOW ARE YOU OK WITH THIS?"
"Honey, it's nice that Mangeni has so many friends!"
"YOUR DAUGHTER IS FUCKING EVERY LIVING THING WITH A DICK."
"KEVIN! Language!"
"But daddy," Mangeni piped in. "I… I thought you'd be happy for me!"
"Kevin…" Connor said, growing concerned. "You don't… want her to have an abortion… do you?"
"No," Kevin said pacing around. "No no no that's not the answer…" he walked back over to Mangeni and gently took hold of her. "Mangeni. I'm very very very disappointed in you. But you are going to keep this baby. And Papa and I are going to raise it for you while you're in college."
"No, daddy," Mangeni pouted. "It's MY baby and I'm going to raise it MY way. Besides, I'm not going to college."
"WHAT?" Kevin shouted.
"That's the other news we had," Connor said, stepping forward. "She doesn't need to go to college because she's gonna be rich!"
"What the HELL are you talking about?" Kevin asked, turning to Connor.
"I'm gonna be on 16 and Pregnant!" Mangeni exclaimed. "And then on Teen Mom! I made the deal this morning! They start filming next week?"
"NO DAUGHTER OF MINE IS GOING TO BE ON SOME TRASHY REALITY SHOW!" Kevin roared.
"Kevin, you're being unreasonable," Connor said firmly.
"I'M BEING UNREASONABLE?" Kevin exclaimed, his voice shaking with rage. "Your DAUGHTER is PREGNANT and she's still in HIGH SCHOOL! How is that NOT unreasonable?"
There was finally deafening silence in the room. Suddenly, Mangeni burst out laughing, doubling over and falling to the ground.
"Sweetheart," Connor said, still playing along, "careful now! You'll hurt the baby!"
"Oh, Papa," Mangeni said, still laughing. "I can't do this anymore. He's going insane!"
"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked, angry and now perplexed.
"I'm not pregnant!" Mangeni said. "You were right, Papa. Daddy IS fun to prank!"
"What?" Kevin asked, turning to Connor. "Are you serious?"
"Honey, if Mangeni EVER told me she was pregnant, why would I EVER help her buy baby clothes?" he asked with a smirk.
"Sorry, daddy," Mangeni said, walking over to Kevin and hugging him tight around the waste. "That wasn't really fair."
"No. It wasn't," Kevin said softly, pouting.
"Just remember," Connor said, joining in on the hug. "We only prank the ones we love."
