Chapter 1

Life Happens

"I didn't expect it, I wasn't prepared for it. But i guess life just happens"

"No, no, no" Eirys looked down at the stick in her hands, and clutched it tight as if she held tight enough, it would disappear. She shook her head in denial, refusing to believe that this was happening to her. But as much as she had willed for it to not be true, the two pink lines stood out as if mocking her with it's presence. Eirys stumbled backwards, and slid down the wall of her bathroom and onto the floor, her head in between her knees, hair disheveled.

'It had only been one time' She thought to herself.

'And one time is all it takes' Her mother had told her, and she wished she had listened, she wasn't ready for this. To have a baby, to be a parent. Hell, she was just a child her self! Just fresh out of college, and had no idea how to take care of a child. Eirys stood up quickly, grabbing on to the sick when the room spun, steadying herself. She knew what she had to do.

She had a call to make.

"Mom" Eirys' voice shook as she greeted her mother over the phone. Her mother was a kind woman, in her mid fifties and still as strong as ever. Her mother was her rock, her strength and the one woman who she aspired to be like. There was no one in the world who she admired more than her mother and the sacrifices she had made for her.

"Rys, darling. What's wrong?" Catia could always tell when something was wrong with her youngest child, she was after all, a mother. And the way her daughter's voice shook meant that something was terribly wrong, she knew her Eirys was one of the strongest women in the world and it took a lot to shake her.

"M-mom, mom I-i messed up. Really badly and its not something i can just fix. You warned me and you told me to be careful and i didn't listen. I'm so sorry. M-mom, I don't know what to do. I-I'm so scared." And it was the truth. Eirys was terrified, she needed advice and this was the best person she could get it from. She wiped her eyes as her mother started to talk.

"Honey calm down and tell me what's wrong. What's got you so shaken sweet pea?" Her mother's warm voice questioned over the phone and it made the tears spill down her cheeks again

"I-I'm pregnant." She whispered, but knew that her mother had heard her by the sharp intake of breath.

"You're pregnant? Honey, you, I. What?" Eirys sniffled and thought mentally, you and I both mom.

"I know. I made a mistake and I don't know what to do. I just graduated from college mom, and I got to start medical school soon. I don't know how to take care of a kid, and i'm sure i'll mess up. I'm just not ready. Like I didn't plan this and I'm not prepared, how can I give this kid a stable life when I'm such a mess right now? I've thought a little about it and I was thinking about adoption, I can't take care of this child but someone else might be ready to take care of a kid, and-"

"Hush darling, you're rambling" Catia reprimanded her daughter, Eirys murmuring a soft apology. She always had the nervous habit of rambling when she was nervous and it seemed like that habit wasn't going away anytime soon. It certainly didn't help when she got in caught in some kind of trouble when she was in high school either, the nervous habit had always lead to the truth spilling from her lips and resulted in her getting grounded.

Catia couldn't believe it, her daughter, pregnant. It certainly wasn't something she had been expecting when her daughter had called her. She had gotten married pretty early in life and fell pregnant at the young age of 19, two years younger than her daughter. It would be hypocritical of her to be harsh towards her daughter for falling pregnant at a young age as she had, though she wished that Eirys had at least been married. But one thing's for sure, adoption is out of the question. No grandchild of hers was going to end up in the fucked up system that was the foster care or end up with a messed up family or parent.

"Eirys listen to me. I was very young when I fell pregnant with your older brother, and trust me I had much of the same thoughts as you are having now. I was scared out of my mind and was convinced that I didn't have the makings to be a good mother. But your grandmother told me that no one is ever ready to be a mother. You can read books, question other s but being a mother is a learning process, for every child is different. You feel like you're not ready and yes you are so very young but this is your child do you hear me? Your child, and no one is more suited to take care of it that you, it's mother. So cheer up sweet heart, you have your family behind you, always and we'll get through this, together."

Eirys felt better after listening to her mother's advice, hours later she found herself sitting in front of her fire place, wrapped up in her blanket and hot cocoa in her hands. She leaned back on the couch, faint sounds coming from the t.v and the comporting warmth that the fireplace offered. She had calmed down considerably and thought long and hard about what she was going to do. She figured that she would go out to buy some books tomorrow before heading back home from work. She was a pre-med major at John's Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She had just turned 21 and she had to go to medical school in September, and now she had a baby on the way.

She was going to be going to Stanford University in California, she would be moving to a whole new state and staying there for 3 years, it was a terrifying thought. She had always been good at academics and medicine was something she had always been interested in and she was now a little glad that she had chosen a profession that pays well. In a few more years she would have a stable income and raise her kid the right way. Money had never been a problem for her family and while she hates relying on her parents, she had no other choice at the moment. She needed the money to raise this child.

"Listen, baby. You're about the size of a watermelon seed right now but I want you to know that I'm gonna be there. I didn't plan you and I hope later when you get older, you will forgive be for thinking to give you away but I will keep you. The way of your conception doesn't matter, I'll take care of you" Eirys splayed her hands over her stomach, talking softly to the baby who couldn't hear her.

Life throws you for a loop in the moment you least expect it and it will frustrate you. It will make you want to rip your hair out, punch a hole in the wall, through a vase across the room. But it doesn't change anything because in the end there are two kinds of people left. The ones willing to take responsibility and the ones who don't. This is how its always been and sometime in the future whether it's good or bad, you'll think, 'what happened?'.

Well darling, life happened.