CHAPTER 2
FEBRUARY 1ST 1986
The next morning Dan woke to his alarm, he smiled as he saw that Karen was still in his arms the way they had fallen asleep last night, 'I could get used to mornings like this.' He thought to himself as he looked over at his door and saw his dad standing there. ''I was meant to have Karen home by eleven last night, her dad already hates me.'' He said.
Royal gave his son the smirk that both his sons got from him, ''I called and said she fell asleep during a family movie, which I said was called Clue and that she would be sleeping the guest room with Jules.'' Royal told him. ''And Oliver wants to see her at home before school, so you may both get up, your mom will have breakfast ready soon.'' He added as he left the doorway and headed downstairs.
Dan moved the hand that was around Karen and ran it threw her brown hair. ''Karen, baby it's time to get up for school, you also need to go see your parents before then.'' Dan said as he used his other hand to softly shake Karen's shoulder.
Karen shook her head, before moving it from Dan's chest, ''Morning, I don't want to go home, they'll kill me for not returning home last night.'' She told him as she made a move to sit up.
''Don't worry, my dad called them last night and said you fell asleep in the living room watching the movie Clue with the rest of the family and that you slept with Jules in the guest room.'' He told her as he too sat up and pulled Karen closer to him and placed a kiss on her lips. ''Now it's a good morning.'' He added.
Karen shook her head with a smile and stood up, ''I need to use the bathroom and I suppose do these.'' She said as she made her way to her school bag and took the brown bag out and walked into the ensuite bathroom that Dan had. A few minutes later and she was back out, ''we need to wait five minutes,'' She told him as she went to her bag to get her make up deciding to do it now to save time later at her house.
She started to apply it when Dan came up behind her and wrapped her in a hug. ''No matter what, we deal with it together, I'll be with you every step of the way no matter the decision.'' Dan told her. ''I could get used to waking up every morning the way we did today.'' He added as Karen smiled at him. ''Once the five minutes are up, I'll be with you, then I need to shower, but you can go on down for breakfast.'' He added as he kissed the side of her head.
Once the five minutes were up, Karen and Dan went into the bathroom and both looked at the tests. ''What does two pink lines mean.'' Karen asked as Dan stood by the empty packaging.
Dan picked up the empty packaging and looked at the back of the box to see the meaning of two pink lines. ''It means positive.'' He told her.
''My parents are definitely going to kill me Dan, you know my dad thinks that once we graduate, that I will end things with you and you already know that he doesn't like you either.'' Karen told him as she began to panic.
Dan stopped her and brought her into his arms, ''Ssh, I know all that, but after we graduate I still want to be with you. I love you Karen more than even I thought was possible when we began dating two years ago. I meant what I said out there about wanting to wake up beside you every morning,'' He told her. ''I also meant what I said about being with you every step of the way no matter what you choose.'' He finished as he felt Karen relax against him.
Karen held Dan tight throughout his speech and only relaxed at the end, ''I love you too Dan, but I can't have an abortion. I don't agree with abortions and it has nothing to do with my faith as a Catholic, I just think that abortions are cruel, I've read research on how they are performed and I can't do that to a baby.'' She told him as she as she stayed where she felt safe and that was in his arms, ''but I also know that I won't be able to give our baby up to strangers to raise.'' She added.
Dan held her tighter, ''I would never ask you to do something that you didn't want to do.'' He told her, ''now let's get rid of these, I would prefer to tell my parents and not have them finding out any other way.'' He added as he let go off Karen and moved to put the used tests and the packaging back into the brown bag.
Karen took it from him, ''we can get rid of them somewhere on the way to school, I'll go join your parent's downstairs while you get ready.'' She said as she gave Dan a kiss.
-X-
After Dan finished in his shower, he began to think about how he would tell his parents that at the age of eighteen he was going to be a father because no matter what Karen thinks he wouldn't be able to hand their baby over to strangers either, 'I'll figure it out later, but for now I'll get ready, go for breakfast, drive Karen to hers then wait on her before trying to convince her to skip school. Maybe take a drive into Charlotte for the day,' He thought to himself as he got dressed and made his bed.
As he was walking down the stairs he could hear his girlfriend talking to Jules and Keith. They were telling her what the movie Clue was about, ''Morning mom, Morning dad.'' He said as he sat down at the kitchen table as May sat a plate of bacon, eggs and toast down in front of him. ''Thanks mom.'' Dan said making quick work of his breakfast and coffee. ''Ready to go Karen.'' Dan asked as he stood up and put his plate and cup in the dishwasher.
Karen stood up and said her goodbyes to everyone as she followed Dan out to the hall, she put her shoes and coat on as Dan put his on and both grabbed their bags and headed out to Dan's car.
The drive to the Roe household is quiet, Karen held Dan's hand only letting go when he needed to change gears, Karen was worrying about telling her parents about the pregnancy and when she will tell them, ''I'll be about twenty minutes hopefully not much longer.'' Karen told him as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
''I'll be here waiting.'' Dan answered her as Karen got out of the car bringing her Raven's bag that held her cheer practice gear in it, ''Mom, dad I'm home.'' Karen called as she left her bag in the hall. 'I'll sort that out later.' She thought to herself.
''In the kitchen Karen.'' Cynthia called out, Karen walked into the kitchen and saw her parents finishing breakfast, ''did you enjoy your sleepover at Dan's.'' Cynthia asked, she like her husband didn't like the Scott's especially Dan.
Karen nodded before sitting down at the table. ''I'm sorry, I fell asleep during the movie. If I knew that I was so tried I would have had Dan drive me home after we did our homework.'' Karen told them. ''I slept in their guest room with Keith's fiancée Jules.'' She added. ''I'm going to go and get ready for school. Dan is sitting out in his car waiting for me.'' Karen added.
''One question Karen, what was the movie you watched and what was it about.'' Oliver asked her, hoping to catch her in a lie so he could forbid her from seeing Dan.
''It was called Clue, it was alright. It was about six guests and they were all invited to a mansion to help the staff solve a murder mystery. I don't want to say too much, as it's an easy plot to give away and it would ruin the movie for you if you and mom ever wanted to see it.'' She told him using what Keith had told her to say before she left to go and get dressed.
Twenty minutes later and Karen was back in the car, ''How about we skip school and spend the day in Charlotte?'' Dan asked as he pulled away from Karen's house.
''It actually sounds really good, maybe we can go to a clinic and see a doctor and have them confirm the pregnancy, I've heard that sometimes tests can give a false positive.'' Karen told him as she reached over to hold his hand.
-X-
The drive to Charlotte which usually takes three and a half hours took nearly four hours as Dan had to stop a few times as Karen felt sick, she finally fell asleep two hours into the drive. ''Karen we're here.'' Dan said, as he softly shook Karen awake.
It took Dan about five minutes to wake Karen, ''Before we do anything, can we go and get something to eat, I feel like a hot chocolate and a slice of red velvet cake.'' Karen asked him as she checked her make-up in the mirror.
Dan nodded as he headed to park his car in a free space, ''Let's go find somewhere to eat, then we can go see about getting an appointment.'' Dan told her as he got out of the car and helped Karen out. They walked for about ten minutes before coming to a stop outside a café called Smelly Cat Coffee House. ''How about in here?'' Dan asked, at Karen's nod Dan opened the door and allowed Karen to enter first, they found a seat in the corner looking out the window.
Dan left Karen sitting at the table and went up to the counter to order, ''Hi can I order a slice of red velvet cake, two hot chocolates and a slice of chocolate fudge cake, please.'' Dan ordered.
''Sitting in or take-away.'' The girl behind the counter asked.
''Sitting in we're at number four.'' Dan said as he pointed to the table that Karen was sitting at looking out the window.
The girl nodded and wrote the table number down, before saying, ''that will be eight dollars and 50 cents please.''
Dan handed over a ten-dollar bill. ''Keep the change.'' He told her as the girl handed him the receipt before putting the change into a tip jar. Dan then headed back to his table, ''A cent for your thoughts.'' He said as he sat down beside Karen in the booth instead of in front of her.
Karen turned around and gave him a tiny smile as she cuddled into his side. ''Just thinking of how I'm going to tell my parents.'' She told him as Dan placed a kiss to the top of her head and his arm tightened around her.
''I've been thinking on how to tell my parents all morning too. When it comes to telling your parents, I'll be with you, we'll tell them together.'' Dan told her as both watched out the window.
Karen shook her head no, ''you said this morning that you wanted your parents to find out from you and no other way. If we tell my parents together then you won't get the chance to tell your parents because I know for a fact that my dad will tell yours right away.'' She told him without looking away from the window.
Dan let out a sigh as the waitress brought their order down. ''Thanks.'' Dan said as he removed his arm from around Karen, as Karen sat up straight, ''Alright, so you tell your parents and I'll tell mine, but if your dad try's anything, I want to know about it right away.'' He told here as she began to eat he cake.
-X-
After eating the both got back into the car and headed to 1505 E 4TH Street to the Pregnancy Resource Centre, where they offer help to all ages. Once they got there Dan parked his car and looked over at Karen. ''Hey, after this if you feel up to it, we can go catch a movie.'' Dan told her as he once again got out of the car and walked around to Karen's side, he opened the door and held his hand out for Karen. ''Together.'' He whispered.
Karen nodded and took his hand, ''together,'' She whispered back as Dan locked his car, after locking his car they walked into the centre hand in hand. ''Hi, I'm wondering if there are any available appointments.'' Karen asked the receptionist.
''One moment please,'' the receptionist said as she looked at the appointments for that day. ''As a walk in there is only two people in front of you, so unless there is an emergency waiting time is roughly about forty-five minutes to an hour.'' She told the two teens. After Karen gave the okay to wait, the nurse took her name then gave her a form to fill in, ''helps make the appointment go a little smoother.'' She added.
Karen and Dan took the form and took a seat in the corner further away from the other two couples sitting in the waiting room. ''This is easy Name: Karen Louise Roe, Date of birth: February 2nd 1968.'' Karen read, she and Dan went on filling out the rest of the form. Once it was completed Dan brought it back up to the receptionist, once he sat down beside her Karen rested her head on his shoulder.
They sat in silence the whole time they were waiting. ''Karen Roe.'' The nurse called, Karen felt Dan squeeze her hand and together they stood up. ''Just this way please.'' She said as she led them down to a room. ''Okay, Karen if you just go behind that screen and change into this gown, please.'' She added as she handed Karen a gown. ''Once you've changed just get on the bed, Dr Rhodes will be in shortly.'' She finished as she left the room.
Dan took a seat on the chair which was beside the bed, Karen changed in silence before sitting on the bed. Dan once again took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ''Good afternoon, Ms Roe, I'm Dr Rhodes.'' The Dr said as she came into the with Karen's form in hand. ''It's says her you've missed a period, your last one was on December 5th 1985 and you took two home pregnancy tests this morning and both came back positive.'' She said as she looked at Karen and Dan.
Karen nodded, ''I just thought it was stress of cheerleading and senior year plus my parents are putting a lot of stress on me about which college they want me to attend.'' Karen told her as Dan sat silently.
''Okay, first of we are going to do a few tests today starting with a urine sample, Please.'' Dr Rhodes said as she gave Karen a pee cup and showed her the bathroom off to the side, ''and while Ms Roe is doing that am I right to assume correctly that you are the father.'' She asked Dan as Karen headed towards the bathroom, at Dan's nod that yes he was the father, Dr Rhodes continued. ''Then I'll start with asking you some questions about your family medical history.''
A few minutes later Dan had answered the questions about his family's medical history, and weather Karen was on any medications or if she had and medical allergies, when Karen came back out and handed the Dr her pee, the Dr was silent as she tested the pee. ''Okay, I'm going to take some blood samples and get them rushed through, just to double check your hormone levels.'' She told Karen as she set about taking the blood samples and giving them to the nurse from earlier with a, ''Please out a rush on these.''
Once the nurse had left Dr Rhodes then asked Karen about her family medical history and about what birth control methods she was using, ''We usually use condoms, but we were at a party and honestly we got drunk and didn't use a condom,'' Karen told the Dr truthfully.
The Dr nodded and made comments on to Karen's file, ''Right the next part of the exam is the uncomfortable part, and I do apologize in advance for that, so it's your decision Mr Scott can stay with you or he can leave as I have to do your breast and cervical exam.'' She told Karen as she placed Karen's feet in the stirrups and placed a blanket over her knees.
Karen looked at Dan to see what he wanted to do, ''I'll go wherever you want me to go, it's your decision.'' Dan told her as he stood from the chair and stood by Karen's head and held her hand.
''It's okay, he can stay.'' Karen told her as she thought 'he's seen everything as I'm pregnant.' They were silent as Dr Rhodes done her tests.
Once she was finished, she removed her gloves, ''the final tests are easy, I just need to check your weight, height and blood pressure.'' Dr Rhodes told her as she instructed Karen to stand on the scales checking her weight she noted it down, before moving onto her height and blood pressure, ''If you just want to get changed again, I'm just going to go see about your blood results.'' She said as she left the room.
Karen got dressed back into her jeans, boots and jumper as quickly as possible. ''You okay Dan.'' She asked as she came back out and sat on the bed.
Dan nodded and smiled as he retook Karen's hand, Dr Rhodes chose that moment to come back in with her test results. ''I have the one result I was concerned about, so now I'm going to do an ultrasound to triple check my findings before I scare you. With the ultrasound I can also give you a better estimate of how far along you are and your due date.'' She added as she motioned for Karen to lie back down again, she rolled Karen's jumper up to just under her breasts, ''The gel is going to be a little cold,'' she warned as she squirted some onto Karen's stomach and moved the transducer probe around the gel, ''see tight here we have two sacs, which means non-identical twins.'' She told them, ''and if we listen we can hear the heartbeats.'' She added as she flipped a switch, what was a silent room was quickly filled with two little heartbeats.
Karen removed her eyes from the screen to look at Dan, who couldn't remove his eyes from what he was seeing. Once the Dr turned the monitor off she cleaned Karen's stomach before turning away to give the two teens a moment. Dan kissed Karen's forehead with a whispered 'wow.'
Dr Rhodes handed Karen a copy of the ultrasound picture, ''as the ultrasounds go on the better the image.'' She told them. ''Okay, just another ten minutes then you're done. If you both want to come and sit over here at the desk.'' She asked them.
''Your other blood tests should be back within a week, I was more concerned with your hormone level which we now know is because it's twins,'' She told her, ''I've tested you for a number of other things like Haemoglobin, RH Factor and blood type, Rubella Screen, history of chicken pox, Rubella and Hepatitis vaccine, Cystic Fibrosis screen, Hepatitis B Surface, antigen, Tay Sach's screen, Sickle cell prep Screen, HIV test and Haemoglobin and Haematocrit levels.'' She told them, ''so just call the centre for your results around this time next week.''
Dr Rhodes gave them a ton more information and Karen and Dan asked their own questions. Upon leaving the centre they both sat in Dan's car, ''are you still wanting to do this together, with it now being twins.'' Karen asked afraid of his answer.
Dan looked at her in shock, ''of course, it's you and me together no matter what. After hearing their heartbeats, that's the best thing I've ever heard.'' He told her. ''I love you Karen Louise Roe.'' He added as he bent over the middle of the car and kissed her.
Karen's hands went to his hair as she smiled into the kiss as she felt on of Dan's hands resting on her stomach and the other moving up to her cheek. ''I love you too, Daniel Robert Scott.'' She said once Dan pulled away. ''Let's go see a movie.'' She told him.
''Anything for my lady.'' Dan answered back with a smile as he pulled out of the car park and away from the centre.
