It's now December and Daisy is about four months pregnant. Stephen had finally come to terms with the fact that his daughter was going to have a baby. He isn't happy about this, obviously, and also, he has to give up his office, because they have to convert it to a nursery. Daisy knew that her father was very disappointed with her. Daisy had always been a "daddy's girl," and Kimberly was able to see how this affected Daisy's relationship with her dad. And also how much it hurt Daisy to know that she really let him down. She needed a friend right now, especially since she was to the point that people would begin to notice her extended belly. Soon, her secret would be out, and she'd have to deal with it.
It was cold outside, so Daisy figured she could hid her "bump" under a heavy winter coat for at least a few more weeks. One concern that she has, was when her best friend finally finds out, she'll question her about everything. No one outside of the band, other than Stephen and Rebecca, knew about the pregnancy. Daisy was so afraid of what people would say once the news got out, and Karen really understood why. Not that she had ever been a pregnant teen, but she had gone through a pregnancy scare after the night that she doesn't really remember, but will certainly never forget. One very long night for an innocent fifteen year old girl. She worried what people would say about her if they knew. Having sex at fifteen used to be something that never happened.
There is only one week of school left until Christmas break. Kimberly figured that this was probably the last bit of time they would be able to keep all of this a secret. Once the break was over, it would be time to tell the people who needed to know, and let anyone else figure it out on their own. Monday morning, Kimberly dropped Daisy off at school, then went to meet Karen at Starbucks. When Kimberly arrived, Karen had already ordered a coffee for the both of them. Kimberly swirled hers with a straw for a little while and said nothing. This was strange. Kimberly was usually the one to be perky and cheerful in the mornings. Something wasn't right.
"So. Is Daisy excited for Christmas break?" Karen asked. There was a few moments of silence. "Yeah. We decided to invite both sides of the family to come to us for Christmas. And… I guess, that's when we'll tell everyone." Kimberly answered. "Well that's good. Jimi and I are doing the same. There are going to be a tom of people in our house." Karen said. "I'm so worried about the news. My mama is going to have a cow. She told me so much, and made me so aware of everything the world would throw at me. And she taught me at such a young age. I feel like there's something I could've done, something I SHOULD'VE done, and this wouldn't have happened. And because it is happening, my baby girl has to suffer. School is going to be hell for her. And there's nothing I can do." Kimberly said.
"Kim, you can't beat yourself up over this. There's nothing you could've done. You never could've predicted something like this. She liked a boy, and he took advantage of being her first real 'boyfriend.' I know what that's like. I mean, accidents happen. For example, Elijah was a complete accident, but I don't know what I'd do without that little accident in my life." Karen said. "I know, but you were thirty-nine years old when you found out you had accidentally gotten pregnant. My daughter is fourteen. She's a freshman in high school. She's not married. We didn't even tell the father!" Kimberly exclaimed frantically.
Karen didn't have a response to this, because in al reality, she was right. "Karen, how am I supposed to raise another child? And god forbid it be another girl!" Kimberly said. "Kimberly, I know you don't seem to realize this, but it will be Daisy's baby. She is going to have to give up going out with her friends some of the time. She didn't mean for this to happen, but she knew it was a risk, and it's a risk she took. She's going to have to pull it together and be a mom." Karen said. "I know, but she's just a child Karen." Kimberly said. "I know. That's why she shouldn't have been having sex in the first place. But she did, we can't change that. And whether or not she is a child, she is having a child of her own now, and you've got to lay it all out for her." Karen said. "You're right. I just feel like revealing it will be enough stress for her." Kimberly said.
"It's going to be stressful for you too Kim. She's got to know that you'll be there to help. 'Help' being the key word. It's her baby. And her responsibility." Karen said. "Yes it is." Kimberly agreed. "This is going to be tough, but once he or she is born, I think all of our feelings will change." Kimberly added. "Exactly. Speaking of 'he or she' does Daisy want to know the sex of the baby?" Karen asked. "Yes. She does. Her appointment with Dr. Robertson is today after school." Kimberly said. "Okay. Well, call me when you leave and let me know if it's a boy or a girl." Karen said. "Okay." Kimberly said.
Later that afternoon, Kimberly was home, and had started making dinner. Daisy got off of the bus. She came inside, and went straight to her room. Kimberly didn't really notice. About twenty minutes later, Kimberly called for Daisy to get ready to go to see Dr. Robertson. Kimberly went to get Daisy so that they could leave. When she walked into Daisy's room, Daisy was standing in front of her full length mirror, with her shirt pulled up. She was looking at her stomach from the side. "What are you doing? Looking at what's growing inside of you?" Kimberly asked. She walked over to Daisy and put her hand on her stomach. Only then did she realize that Daisy was crying.
"Baby what's wrong?" Kimberly said. "Nothing." Daisy replied. "Well, you don't cry over nothing. What's wrong?" Kimberly asked again. "They know!" Daisy sobbed. "What? Who knows what?" Kimberly said. "My classmates know about the baby." Daisy said. "What? How?" Kimberly asked. "Today in class, I got really hot, so I took off my jacket, and the boy next to me screamed 'Oh my God! Are you pregnant?!' Everyone started staring at me and I froze. I couldn't say anything. I started crying like a baby in the middle of class, so the teacher told me to go to the bathroom." Daisy said.
Kimberly didn't know what to say, she just put her arm around Daisy. They were still standing in front of the mirror. Daisy pulled her shirt back up. "I'm going to get so fat." Daisy said. Kimberly laughed. "Yeah. That's what happens." Kimberly said. "Come on. Let's go see Dr. Robertson, and we can talk more when we get home. They drove to the doctor. This was the first time that Kimberly had gone with Daisy to see him. "I'll wait outside." Kimberly said to Daisy as she walked into the exam room. For once, Daisy didn't object. While she was waiting on the doctor, she decided to text Karen. They didn't have much time to talk before Dr. Robertson came in. Karen just told Daisy that she was proud of her for finally going to her mom when she needed something.
When they finished with the initial exam, Kimberly was called in to the room for the ultrasound. "Do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?" He asked. "Yeah." Daisy said. "Well, then here you go." He said. He turned the monitor towards them. "Daisy, it looks like you're gonna have a beautiful baby girl." He said. "It's a girl?!" Daisy said very excited. When Kimberly heard 'little girl,' her stomach dropped. "Another little girl." Kimberly said. She knew that there wasn't anything she could change, so she may as well just get used to it. She took out her phone and texted Karen.
"It's a girl." Kimberly said. "A girl… YAY! Right?" Karen replied. "You know what, maybe I can get it right with her." Kimberly said. "Oh shut up!" Karen said. "Daisy is a great young girl. She made one stupid mistake. That has nothing to do with your parenting. You're a great mom, and don't you dare ever think differently." Karen added. "Thanks." Kimberly said. Kimberly put her phone away. "Okay, well then, I will see you in two months. Okay?" Dr. Robertson said. "Okay. Thank you." Kimberly said. Kimberly and Daisy drove home. Daisy was looking at the sonogram the whole way home. She looked happy, but she also looked sad. "What's up?" Kimberly asked. "Nothing. I can't wait to show Aunt Karen the picture, but I'm scared about going to school tomorrow." Daisy said.
Tuesday morning rolled around. Daisy got up, got ready, and Kimberly took her to school and dropped her off. Kimberly was about half way home, when she heard a buzzing coming from the passenger seat. Daisy had left her phone in the car. When she got home, she got Daisy's phone and put it on the charger inside. As the day progressed, Daisy's phone was continuously going off. She must've gotten at least 100 new text within the hour. Kimberly picked up the phone, in case it may have been something important. When she looked at what the messages said, she didn't know how to react.
The first one said, "So exactly how many times have you done it?" Another said, "I bet your family is really pissed off at you." And the one that really caught her attention said, "Once a slut, always a slut." Kimberly didn't know what to think about all of this. My daughter is being bullied, and she didn't tell me about it. Why wouldn't she come to me? I wonder if she mentioned anything to Karen. Kimberly went and got her phone to call Karen. "Hey." Karen answered. "Hey. Uh, did you talk to Daisy yesterday at all?" Kimberly asked. "Briefly. While she was waiting at the doctor. Why?" Karen said.
"I just was wondering if she had said anything to you about something that may be going on at school." Kimberly said. "Like what?" Karen asked. "Oh it's nothing." Kimberly answered. "If it was nothing, then you wouldn't have called me. What do you think we talked about?" Karen asked. "Well, it was more of something I hoped you talked about." Kimberly said. "Okay. What?" Karen repeated. Kimberly took a deep breath. I think Daisy is being bullied. The boys and girls in her class found out about the baby yesterday." Kimberly said. "What?! How?" Karen asked. "She took off her jacket in class, and a boy sitting next to her called everyone's attention to it." Kimberly answered.
"Just because people know, doesn't mean she will get bullied." Karen said. "I know that Karen. Daisy left her phone in my car this morning, and in the past hour, she's gotten about one hundred and fifty text messages calling her a slut, saying she disgraced her family, and asking her how many times she's done it. Karen, I'm not sure she's having a great day at school." Kimberly said. "Oh my God. That many texts? Who would say something like that?" Karen said. "They are all kids that apparently have her number, but she doesn't have theirs. I'm going to go pick her up." Kimberly said. "I'll go get her. I'm already close to the school anyway. We'll be there in a few." Karen said. "Thanks." Kimberly replied.
Karen got to the school. She went to the front office so they could call Daisy's teacher and tell her she was checking out. The teacher said her class had just left for lunch. The staff looked around the cafeteria, but Daisy wasn't in there. Karen thought of one place she might be. She was hoping she would be wrong, but she wasn't. During lunch, Daisy had gone to the girl's bathroom, and locked herself in a bathroom stall. "Daisy." Karen said softly. "Aunt Karen? Is that you?" Daisy said. She opened the stall door. "Daisy, come on. I'm checking you out." Karen said. "Why?" Daisy asked, trying to dry her eyes. "I think you know why." Karen said. "I don't know what you're talking about." Daisy said. "Oh really. Then why are you sitting in the bathroom while your class is at lunch?" Karen asked.
Daisy didn't say anything. "Who is it?" Karen asked. "It's EVERYONE!" Daisy shouted. "Okay. Calm down. Let's go." Karen said. Daisy picked up all of her stuff. They were leaving, and had to walk past the cafeteria. There was a young boy who pointed at Daisy, made some very inappropriate hand gestures, and laughed. Karen barged into the lunch room. "Excuse me. What's your name?" Karen said to the boy that was laughing. "Who are you?" He said. "I'm someone who is going to get you into a whole hell of a lot of trouble if you don't quit bullying my niece. Got it?" Karen said sternly. Daisy was shocked. She had never seen this side of Karen. Karen continued to talk to the boy. "You're in high school, so I'm not going to baby you. I know that all boys your age think about is getting 'laid.' You're not fooling anyone." Karen said. She walked away. All of his friends started laughing at him.
Daisy and Karen left. They got in the car and Daisy said, "Why did you do that?" "What? Stand up to that little punk? Baby I did that because I hate to see you in pain. I get it. Kids are cruel. I don't know why, but all teenagers seem to feed off of other people's pain." Karen said. "I've never seen, or heard, you talk to anyone like that." Daisy said. "That's because you've never seen me in defensive mode." Karen said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. How did you know?" Daisy asked. "Well, you left your phone in your mom's car this morning. The ONLY reason she read the text is because, well, you got a very large number of them." Karen said. "Great." Daisy said.
They got to Kimberly's house. Karen and Daisy walked inside. Kimberly was sitting on the couch. She stood up and Daisy ran straight to her arms. She started pouring tears instantaneously. Kimberly held her close. She kissed the top of her head. "Thanks." Kimberly mouthed to Karen. Karen nodded. Kimberly motioned for Karen to come join their 'hugging session.' Now Daisy was sandwiched between Karen and Kimberly. "I should go. I'll let you two talk." Karen said. "No." Daisy said. "Will you stay?" She added. "I will if you want me to." Karen said. "I do." Daisy said.
Daisy sat down on the couch with her head in Kimberly's lap, and her legs lying across Karen's. "I hate this. If I wasn't such an idiot, this never would've happened. You told me not to have sex, but I did it anyway. I didn't want to, but I did. And now, I have to deal with this stupid baby." Daisy said, still crying. "What do you mean you didn't want to, but you did?" Karen asked. "I kept saying no, but he kept asking me, and finally I just said okay." Daisy said. Karen and Kimberly were now both trying to think of something to take Daisy's mind off of school. "Have you shown Karen the sonogram?" Kimberly said. "Uh, No. Where is it? I wanna see." Karen said. Daisy slowly got off of the couch to go get it.
Daisy handed the sonogram to Karen, and then lied back down on the couch. "Awe. She's growing fast." Karen said. Karen looked at Daisy. "Can I [touch your stomach]?" Karen asked. "Sure." Daisy said. Karen slightly pulled up Daisy's shirt, and put her hand on her stomach. "Daisy, I know this may sound dumb, but do you ever talk to her?" Karen asked. "Who? The baby?" Daisy asked. "Yeah." Karen replied. "No." Daisy said. "You should. It will help her brain to develop faster." Karen said. Daisy, still lying on the couch, kept twisting, and turning. "Why can't you sit still?" Karen asked. "My stomach hurts." Daisy said. "Well we know what it can't be." Kimberly said.
"It's probably the way the baby is positioned. She may be pressed up against a vital organ, causing a little bit of temporary pain." Karen said. "If she's anything like her mama, she's gonna be a kicker." Kimberly said. She and Karen laughed. "Yeah. You were constantly kicking inside your mama." Karen said. "Does it hurt?" Daisy asked. "The kicking? It doesn't hurt, it is a weird, slightly uncomfortable feeling." Karen answered. "Well does it… Never mind." Daisy said. "What?" Kimberly said. "Nothing." Daisy said.
"Daisy, you are out of school for the day, and we are all here together. If you've got questions, ask us. Don't be embarrassed." Karen said. "Sweetie, there is nothing to be embarrassed about." Kimberly added. "What about when you have the baby?" Daisy asked. "Ohhh. Okay, now we are making progress. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. That is the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my entire life." Karen said. "Yes it is." Kimberly agreed. "But what about all the drugs and stuff they give you? How do you know which one to use?" Daisy asked. "Don't worry about that. I will take care of any of that." Kimberly said. "Okay." Daisy said. "Aunt Karen, are you going to be there when I have her?" Daisy asked. "I will be waiting patiently with Uncle Jimi and the rest of the gang until the doctors let us know we are clear to come in." Karen said. "No, I mean, while I have her." Daisy said.
"Oh. No, I'm sorry. They will only let one other person in the room with you while you're in labor. And I'm sure that you want your mom to be in there with you." Karen said. "Yeah." Daisy said, with a not-so-subtle grin. Karen gave the sonogram back to Daisy and she went to put it back in her room. "I'm not sure how well I'm going to handle being in the delivery room with her." Kimberly whispered. "Kimberly. You will be fine. She's your daughter." Karen said. "I know. But Karen, she is going to be in so much pain. And it kills me to see her hurting. I don't know that I could keep it together. And I know that Stephen won't do it. He may not even show up. We've hardly spoken two words to each other since I told him." Kimberly said. "I'm sorry Kim. I'll go, but I think this is something you will regret if you don't do this with, and for, her." Karen said.
"You're right. I need to do this for her." Kimberly said. "Okay. I promise, if you pass out, we will have them get you a bed, and then I'll go take your place. Okay?" Karen said. They laughed. Daisy walked back into the room. "None of my clothes are going to fit me in a couple of months." Daisy said. "Nope." Karen said. Daisy sat down on the couch between Kimberly and Karen. Karen and Kimberly smiled at each other. They both leaned over to Daisy's stomach and started talking to the baby, saying things like, 'You're going to be so loved.' And 'We can't wait to meet you.' Finally a smile appeared on Daisy's face. "I'm sorry that this happened to you at fourteen, but you'll be okay. And you may not believe me right now, but you will make it. I promise." Karen said.
"No I won't." Daisy said. Tears were forming in her eyes again. "Yes you will. What makes you think you won't? You've got more support that most pregnant fourteen year old girls have." Karen said. "Your right. No one else has an Aunt Karen, Uncle Jimi, Phillip, or Rebecca. But even though other girls don't have them, they have a dad." Daisy said. "Daisy. You know your daddy loves you so much. He is just having trouble with this. It's taking him longer to except that his baby girl isn't a baby anymore." Kimberly said. "He'll come around." Karen added. "No he won't." Daisy exclaimed.
"You and daddy hardly even talk to each other anymore." Daisy said to Kimberly. "And because of all of my problems, you hardly get to spend time with Uncle Jimi and Elijah anymore. That's all my fault." Daisy said to Karen. "Do not say that. I promise you that if your Uncle Jimi and I need some time together, or if we are doing something important I will tell you. And then I will come see you when I can. He understands that I want to be here for you during this. As well as be here for your mom. So do not ever think that you are a burden. Do you understand me?" Karen exclaimed. "Okay." Daisy said.
"Now that you've calmed down some. I want to talk to you about this text messages you've been receiving all day." Kimberly said. "I don't know who all of these people are, or how they got my number. I'm pretty sure that anything that those texts say, I've already heard from someone's mouth today." Daisy said. "Daisy, why didn't you tell one of your teachers? Or ask to borrow a phone so you could call me." Kimberly asked. "I don't know." Daisy said. No one said anything for a few seconds. "Did you read all of the texts?" Daisy asked. "No." Kimberly replied. "Can I have my phone?" Daisy asked. "I guess. It's charging beside my bed." Kimberly said.
Daisy went to get her phone. As she was walking back into the room, she was scrolling through her texts. Kimberly did something she never thought she would do. "Daisy, will you please give me your phone." Kimberly asked. "Why?" Daisy asked. "Because you are my daughter and I want to keep you safe. I need to see what the other texts said." Kimberly said. Daisy just stared at her for a moment. "Fine. Whatever." Daisy shrugged. She handed Kimberly the phone. "Now, you don't have to stay in here while I read through these, but if there is one I feel we need to talk about, we are going to do so." Kimberly said. "Well, then we are going to be up all night long." Daisy said as she walked to her room.
Karen looked over Kimberly's shoulder at the phone. Daisy had received another one hundred messages since Karen had picked her up. This was awful. The text were everything from girls calling her a slut, to boys asking her to do things to them. She received a few inappropriate pictures, and links to vulgar websites. Some of these kids just wouldn't give up on trying to humiliate her. Asking if she would send 'pictures' to them. As she was scrolling the hundreds of messages, Kimberly started to lose it. Karen took the phone from her. "You don't need to be doing this Kim." Karen said. "Well, someone has to try and stop this. And like she said, Stephen and I aren't even talking to each other." Kimberly said. "I'll do it then." Karen said.
Karen continued scrolling. There was a video sent to her. In order to see what it was, Karen had to open it. She only had to see a couple of seconds to know who this string of messages, pictures, and video had come from. The arm in the video, was the same arm that she'd considered snapping in half earlier that morning. There was a scar on the wrist. She'd seen that scar before, when she stood up for Daisy in the school cafeteria. They young boy who was laughing at Daisy, wasn't laughing because of what she had done. He was laughing at what he predicted the reaction on her face would be when she opened that video. "What else is there?" Kimberly asked.
Karen was hesitant to answer. "What?" Kimberly asked. "There was one, short video." Karen said. "Short video of what?" Kimberly asked. Karen said nothing. "Oh my God." Kimberly said. She was now practically in a mental breakdown. "Karen what the hell do I do now?" Kimberly asked. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out." Karen said. Daisy's phone beeped again. It was a message that said, 'nice ass' and there was a picture attached. Karen opened the file to see a picture of Daisy. She was only wearing one article of clothing. She had on an extra small, black lace bra.
Karen gasps. "What?" Kimberly asked. "You don't want to know." Karen said. "Yes I do. What?" Kimberly said. "It's Daisy. She's posing." Karen said. Karen handed the phone to Kimberly. "DAISY PEARL SCHLAPMAN! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Kimberly screamed. "What?" Daisy asked. "What is this?" Kimberly asked. She turned the phone towards Daisy. "Where did you get that?" Daisy asked. "It was just sent to you." Kimberly said. "Why don't we start with when was this?" Kimberly exclaimed. "It was on the first day of school. I wanted to look cute for my first day. When Hunter and I came back to the house that afternoon, and we went into my room to study, he asked if he could take some pictures."
"He said that they would only be for him!" Daisy said. "Daisy. No matter what. You never let someone take naked pictures of you, nor do you ever send a boy a nude picture of yourself. If you are not married, it is not something that is acceptable." Karen said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." Daisy said crying. Karen moved closer to Kimberly and Daisy sat beside her. Karen put one arm around Kimberly and the other around Daisy. "You two have got to pull it together. Daisy, I realize you are scared, and stressed out, but so is your mom. And the other way around. You've got to be able to lean on each other. Now, I'm not going to lie. This picture of Daisy, may have just made things a lot harder, but you have to find a way through it. You figure out a plan, and I'll be on board. You just have to let me know how we are going to pursue this." Karen said.