Selena brushed her dark red hair out of her face and glanced at the little pink stick between her fingers. She bit her purple-painted fingernails as she looked down to see the final result of the pregnancy test. Buying the pregnancy test at the general store earned her some sympathetic looks from Barbara and Simon, making her feel more uncomfortable than she ever had been before. Slowly, a little pink plus showed up on the tiny screen.

"Luke! Babe…." Selena called from her room above the bar where she worked. Her hands were shaking, as was her voice.

"What is it?" Luke called back, totally oblivious to Selena's nervousness and predicament.

"I think I'm pregnant." Selena choked out, tears forming in her eyes. No, I am strong. I can get through this without the crying, she thought to herself, the tears leaving as soon as they had come.

"Are you…are you sure?" Luke asked, a look of complete shock on his face.

"Yes Luke. I'm absolutely positive. By the look of your face it seems like you don't even know how a woman gets pregnant." she said with a slight laugh.

"So…what are you going to do with the baby?"

"What do you mean what am I going to do? I'm going to keep it!" Selena said, and the thought of actually being a mother caring for a child hit her. She hadn't even stopped to think of how much her life would be changed before this point. What was she going to do? Should she keep the baby? Or should she get it aborted or put it up for adoption? Having a baby at age 20 may have been a normal thing to do when her parents were young, but now? And then the question of Luke came into play. Luke, oh sweet Luke. Would he be a reliable father or would he bail right away? Confusion and anxiety swirled around Selena's head, making her sweat and shake.

"Selena? Selena? Are you okay? You look terrible!" Luke grabbed her by the shoulders just as she collapsed into his arms.

"What were we thinking Luke? Why didn't we use protection? Or do something? I'm too young for this."

The young couple stood hand in hand in front of Sampson and Sue, Selena's parents, and Dale, Luke's father. Sampson and Sue agreed to make a day trip to the island to meet their daughter at the bar. The bar was completely empty since it was noon, and Selena decided it was the best place to break the news.

"Mom, Dad, Dale, we have some big news that we thought you should know," Selena took a deep breath and squeezed Luke's hand. "I'm pregnant." It took a couple of seconds for the adults to react, but to Selena, it felt like hours.

"Are you sure?" The first question came from Dale.

"Yes! I'm sure! Your son asked the same exact thing. Why does everyone ask that?"

"Well, I'm sorry. Luke, what were you thinking boy?" Dale turned to Luke, his soft expression turning hard.

"I wasn't thinking. As always."

"Selena, baby. Come here." Sue said softly, standing to hug her daughter. Selena walked over and was embraced by her mother, her father joining. While Selena's parents seemed to feel sorry for Selena and accept her, Dale lectured Luke in the corner.

"Well, would you care to tell me what you're planning to do?!" Dale barked at Luke. Luke towered over Dale, but Dale still seemed to overpower his 6'3" son.

"Well…we were going to keep the baby…" Luke muttered.

"That's all you've got? Are you gonna stick around for the poor woman? Are you going to be in the kid's life? Are you going to step up to the plate and be around when it needs to have its diaper changed or needs to be fed? I don't trust you Luke. You're immature. You are too young to be a father!"

A father,

Luke thought.

I'm going to be a father.

Dale, Sue, and Sampson all sat back down with Selena and Luke in front of them once again. After a lot of debating and suggestions, one conclusion became favored by their parents.

"Marriage. You need to get married." Dale said while staring down his blue-haired son. Sue and Sampson nodded in agreement. Selena gripped onto Luke's arm, uncomfortable with what her parents wanted, but she knew in her mind that it might be the best option for them. This was a small island that was greatly inhabited by older folks with traditional thoughts. A baby out of wedlock was not good for her image. There needed to be a wedding before the baby was born, and maybe having married parents would also be better for her future son or daughter.

"Hello? Excuse me? Anybody here?" Selena called out as she leaned across the counter at town hall. Luke stood right behind her checking out all of the dusty books on the bookshelf.

"I wonder if Gill still keeps a diary like he did when he was a kid. Haha, that stuff was gold. We used to steal it out of his cubby in school and read as much as we could before he noticed. Did you know he used to wet the bed until third grade? Poor guy!" Luke laughed to himself, but Selena was unamused. Her pregnancy was already starting to affect her mood and she was extremely impatient.

"HELLO? SERVICE PLEASE!" She yelled as she banged on the little bell on the desk.

"Selena! Calm down! Do you want to hear more about little Gilly's diary? Haha!"

"SHUT UP LUKE! God, you can be so annoying. I don't want to hear about Gill's diary!"

"My…diary?" Gill had walked in just as Selena mentioned his diary, which, unknown to her, he still wrote in daily.

"Oh…sorry Gill. Never mind. Anyway, Luke and I are…engaged, and we would like to book the church in two weeks for a wedding. We don't want to waste any time." Gill had a look of complete shock as he took out some papers and books and proceeded to schedule their wedding for August 18th.

"Thank you Gill." Selena said, giving Gill the sweetest smile she could muster.

"Sure thing…I'll give Perry a call and call you when he confirms. I'm sure he won't deny the request since there's nothing going on that I can think of at that time."

"See ya later Gilligan!" Luke smiled brightly and waved as he walked out of the door, Selena following. After a quick scowl, Gill grabbed Selena's arm and pulled her back to the counter.

"Selena, I know we aren't that close, but I know Luke. Are you in any trouble? Do you need help?" He stared at Selena with a sympathetic face, like he knew something was up.

"Gill, if you must know, I love Luke and we are getting married because we LOVE each other. Please don't ask that again." Selena ripped her arm out of Gill's loose grip and walked out of the town hall with her hips swaying side to side.

Luke looked down at the envelope in his hand. It was baby blue and it contained the invitation to his wedding. The wedding was exactly in two weeks, and he expected that this particular letter would take at least one week to reach its destination. He used to send letters to this address all of the time, excitedly awaiting the response. It had been four years since he had seen her shining face, and almost three years since he had spoken to her, but he knew that he needed to see her at least one more time before embarking on one of the biggest adventures of his life. He licked the envelope shut and wrote the address on the back.

Angela Harvie

15689 4th street

New York, NY, 10019