When Carmen, Tibby, Bee and Lena had been 18, they had truly believed that they would all have daughters after they finished college. They believed to the bottom of their core that nothing could brake them apart, that they would all have kids together and that it would be just like old times. A sort of Degrassi: the next generation, Pants style. When the time came, they would pass the jeans on to their daughters. (And they would all have daughters.) But no-one even imagined that it might work out how it did.
Tibby didn't get married. But she was the first one to get pregnant. Her parents thought she was crazy for staying unmarried. Calmly she tried to explain her reasoning to her mother.
"Brian and I don't believe in god, mom, marriage is a holy sacrament, it wouldn't be right. Anyway, I'm not really the white satin dress type girl, you know? I'd probably wear pajamas underneath the gown, and go up there with unwashed bed-head." She laughed. "Plus, we know that we don't need marriage to keep us together, it's a whole lot of paperwork even if we do it with a justice of the peace. In a way we did get married, but it wasn't traditional and it wasn't legal." Tibby gladly let the memories of that week at the beach with Brian sweep over her, that week they had become one person in two bodies. That was the week she had conceived the child she now carried under her tee shirt and cargo jeans.
Her mother didn't understand, but she knew her daughter well enough to know she did everything her own way, no matter what. It was pure will that had pushed Tibby through film school, sheer endurance that had gotten her the job as a director in the Hollywood movie, after all those years in the indie film business. Tibby now lived in L.A. But she was always traveling around to film movies. All her mother wanted to know was how Tibby was going to find time to give birth, let alone raise the child.
Bridget was already married, Eric's parents had loved her even though they hadn't really enjoyed her fathers company. Bee had run down the aisle laughing, she had gladly exchanged vows with Eric and they had moved into a beachside house in Mexico. They even traveled locally with the soccer team they coached together. A year into their marriage Bridget wrote a soccer book for the "Idiots guide to…" series. She found writing agreed with her and she continued authoring novels, not only sports, but fantasy too. When she first got pregnant, two months after Tibbys announcement, everyone was ecstatic.
Lena lived with Paul. They hadn't really talked about marriage, but Lena could tell he was frightened to have children. She could tell he was afraid what had happened to his father would happen to him. He didn't want to leave a child like his father had left him and his sister. Still, four months into Tibbys pregnancy, she asked him about marriage and kids.
"I do want to be a father," He said quietly. She waited, Lena knew him well, she also knew when not to jump in. "I'm scared Lena. But I'll try if you will." He looked her in the eyes. He had surprised her. Paul had often taken days to reveal anything he was feeling to her in words. And so they tried, they got married in front of a judge, much to Leny's family's dismay. They had been hoping for a huge Greek ceremony for her. Still, Lena decided to allow them to throw a party, to celebrate her marriage and their Greek love of food.
Paul and Lena tried to have a baby for three months before going to the doctor to see if anything was wrong. When the test came in, they were both hit with an awful shock. Lena was unable to have children.
When Carmen heard the news, she wanted to help. She was still enjoying the single life. Following in her stepfathers feet, she had become a lawyer. Although her line of work wasn't the same as his. Carmen was into family-law. She surrounded herself with work to drown out the sorrow she felt at the loss of her college boyfriend, Win. A drunk driver had killed him in her last year before she graduated. It had scared her, and she had turned her normal social energy into studying and law. Her incredible temper was at an all-time high, and it was taken out on anyone and everyone she knew. Her little brother Ryan loved her because of it though. He was a moody teenager and was in awe of her uncontrollable anger. He phoned her up at night and asked her things like, "Why does your nose run and your feet smell?" and said things like. "I am a nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore I am perfect." Carmen felt as though Ryan was the only one who didn't resent her for grieving. Still, when she heard about Lena and Paul's problem, she knew what she wanted to do. She got pregnant with Lena's baby.