what if they'd kept the baby?

{ I own nothing }


If you ask her what one word she would use to describe motherhood, she'd say exhausting.

It's hard enough being 16, she thinks. There's school and parties and boys and friends and drama and boys and gossip and parents and boys. Did she mention boys? Boys are definitely the hardest part, because that's what got her into this mess in the first place.

(Not a mess, she mentally corrects herself. A situation. A predicament.)

But being 16 and having a baby is a whole other level of hard. Because you still have all the same problems as other 16 year olds, but you also have no sleep and no time to yourself. So. Yeah.

Today has been particularly difficult because Emma's got a little baby cold she caught at daycare. She's thankful for the Caffertys' church nursery and that they can leave Emma there during the day so Becky can stay in school, but Emma's only eight weeks old, and her little immune system can't fight off those things quite yet, and okay, maybe Becky's one of those moms who wants to put her kid in a bubble and never let her out.

(It's still weird to think of herself as a mom, but there's really no way around it, she guesses.)

Anyway, Emma's got a cold, and Becky can't take her to daycare because God forbid she get any of the other kids sick, and her mom's MIA, and she's got a big history test today she's gonna have to miss, and she got about twelve minutes of sleep last night since Emma wouldn't stop crying. Basically, when Luke comes through her front door after school, she's about ready to burst into tears.

"Hey," he says quietly, trying not to wake their daughter, who finally fell asleep not long ago. He must notice the tears on Becky's cheeks, because his face softens even more. "Hey," he repeats. "It's okay. She's gonna be fine."

Becky sniffles, trying to steady her breathing. "I know." She lets Luke take the baby from her arms, watches as he tenderly kisses her little forehead and presses her up against his chest. "But she wouldn't stop crying all night, and I only got like ten minutes of sleep, and I had to miss a big history test today, and…"

"Shh." Luke hooks his free arm around her neck, pulls her in for a hug. "It's okay. I'm sure you can make up the test, Mrs. Staub will understand. And as for the sleep problem, I'm here now, so why don't you go lay down and let me take a shift."

Becky nods, pulls away from him. She looks up at the clock and frowns. "Don't you have practice? Are you sure Coach is okay with this?"

"Coach is a father, too, Bex," he reminds her. "I just told him Emma was sick, and he sent me home. Stop worrying about me and go take care of yourself for a little while." He kisses her forehead and nudges her back down the hall toward her bedroom, lays down on the couch so the baby can rest comfortably on his chest. "I've got her."

... ... ...

When she wakes up from her nap, she walks into the living room to find Luke making silly faces at their little girl. Becky hears her tiny giggle and she can't help but smile. With a little rest, it's easier to keep it all in perspective. She loves that little girl more than anything in this world, and yeah, things are hard, but she really wouldn't change a thing.

She sits down next to him on the couch, blows a raspberry on Emma's cheek and succeeds in making her giggle. He looks over at her and smiles. "Better?"

"Much." She leans her head on his shoulder gratefully. "Thank you for skipping practice. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come by."

He shrugs. "We're a team, Bex." He leans down, kisses Emma's little nose. "We're not gonna make it through this if we don't lean on each other every once in a while. You know you can always lean on me, right?" His eyes meet hers. "Always."

She nods, leans over and kisses his cheek. "You're the best," she says, because it's true. If she's gotta be stuck with a high school boy for the rest of her life, she'd pick Luke Cafferty every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

(He doesn't know that she knows he's in love with her. He also doesn't know that she's thinking she might be feeling the same way. It's days like this that remind her why.)