"Daddy, why are you being like this? You know being a doctor is your dream, not mine." Jules argued looking up at her father at the dinner table.
"Julianna, you were fine with going to Brown and then med school until Roger came into the picture." he yelled putting his fork down.
"No I wasn't. I always wanted to be a filmmaker. Why do you think I kept taking all those film classes in 9th and 10th grades? Because I was bored?" she asked looking over at him.
"Julianna, you're going to Brown and that's it." he yelled looking over at her.
"Or what daddy? You're gonna ground me? I'll be 18 by the time I go. You can't stop me. It's my life." she asked looking over at him.
"Or I'm not paying for college, that's or what." he yelled looking over at her.
"Fine, don't pay for college. I'll work and do it on my own. But I want to go to NYU with Roger." she yelled getting up and running up to her room.
"Julianna Rose, get down here." he yelled getting up from the table.
"Dad, maybe you should let her cool off. You know how Jules gets." April said looking up at her father.
"What has gotten into her?" he asked looking down at his youngest daughter.
"Dad, her and Roger are in love. They just want to be together." she said looking up at him.
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." he said looking down at her.
"I thought you liked Roger?" she asked looking up at him.
"I do, but I worry about them living in the city together. I'm afraid she's gonna throw her life away." he said looking down at her.
"Daddy, you aren't gonna be able to stop them for much longer and if you keep trying, guess what?" she asked looking up at him.
"I'm gonna lose her forever, I know." he said sitting down at the table.
"Daddy, you just have to believe that she's gonna make the right decision." she said looking over at him.
"I know they're sleeping together." he said looking over at her.
"How do you know that?" she asked looking over at him.
"I can tell by the way they are with each other. I was young once too, you know. I just don't want her to marry him and forget about school." he said looking down at her.
"She's not gonna get married and forget about school. She wants to be a filmmaker too much." she said looking over at him.
"But she's so smart. She can be a doctor one day." he said looking over at her.
"But dad, she doesn't want to be a doctor. She wants to be a filmmaker. You can't make her do something she doesn't want to do." she said looking over at him.
"I know. How did you get so smart?" he asked smiling at her.
"I have you and Jules." she smiled looking over at him.
"Do you want to go check up on your sister?" he asked looking over at her.
"Um, yeah. Can I?" she asked looking over at him.
"Yeah, go ahead. I'll clean up." he smiled looking over at her.
"Thanks daddy." she smiled looking up at him before getting up to go upstairs to Jules' room. "Jules, it's me, can I come in?" she asked opening the door.
"Go away April. I don't want to talk to anyone right now." she yelled crying into her pillow.
"Jules, I'm just trying to help." she said opening the door more.
"You can't help April. No one can." she cried holding her pillow tighter as she started to cry more.
"Dad's thinking about letting you go to NYU with Roger." she said closing the door as she entered the room more.
"Why would he change his mind?" she asked looking over at her.
"Because the main reason why he didn't want you to go was because he was afraid you were gonna marry Roger and forget about school." she said sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I don't want to forget about school. I want to be a filmmaker and Roger wants to be a rock star. There's too much we have to do with our lives." she said looking over at her.
"Dad knows you and Roger are having sex, you know?" she asked looking over at her.
"So what. I'm almost 18 and it's not like me and Roger just started dating. We've been together for over a year." she said looking over at her.
"Are you guys using protection?" she asked looking over at her.
"Of course we are." she lied looking into her sisters blue eyes. Although it wasn't a complete lie. They used protection most of the time. But sometimes they forgot or just didn't have any with them.
"OK. Because I think what dad's most afraid of is you getting pregnant before you're out of school." she said looking over at her.
"I know what I'm doing April. I want to do so much stuff before that happens. And so does Roger. Don't worry. We're being careful." she said looking over at her.
"I hope so." she smiled looking over at her as she left the room.
"Me too." she whispered looking down at her belly. She was a week late for her period and hasn't told Roger that she suspected that she was pregnant. He didn't want kids yet either and she didn't want to worry him for nothing. She was planning on going to the free clinic for a pregnancy test the next day. She told April and her father she was hanging out with Roger and told Roger she had to go to the mall with her dad to look for a prom dress.
"You are indeed pregnant Miss Erickson." the nurse said looking over at her.
"Um...what am I gonna do?" she asked looking over at her.
"Well you have a couple of choices. You can either keep the baby." she started when Jules cut her off.
"No way. My dad will kill me and me and my boyfriend and I have too much to do before we get married and have kids." she said looking over at her.
"You can give the baby up for adoption." she suggested looking over at her.
"Then my dad will have to know that I'm pregnant. I can't." she said looking over at her.
"OK, well you know what your only choice is then sweetie?" she asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, I know." she said looking over at her as tears rose to her eyes.
"Sweetie, would you like to go home and talk to your boyfriend. Maybe together you two will be able to figure something out." she told her looking down at her.
"No, I can't. I know my boyfriend will want to keep the baby and there's no way. I have to do this. It's the only thing I can do. For both of us" she said looking over at her.
"OK sweetie, well we can make an appointment for you, but you'll have to have someone come with you." she said looking over at her.
"OK. No problem." she said wiping her eyes.
"OK sweetie. Let's get you taken care of." the nurse said looking down at her as she got up to make the appointment.
"Roger, I'm so sorry Baby." she said looking down at her belly as tears rolled down her face. She didn't know who she was gonna get to go with her, but she had to find someone she could trust not to tell Roger. All of her friends were his friends and she didn't want to tell April because she knew she would try to convince her to keep the baby and she knew it just wasn't possible at this point in her life.
"Here you go sweetie. You're appointment is next week. Is that OK with you?" she asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you." she said wiping her face before leaving the clinic. She didn't know what she was gonna do. The prom was in 4 days and then she had to find someone who could come with her back to the clinic, who would keep it from Roger. When she walked into the house, April followed her to her room.
"Jules, where were you?" she asked closing the door behind her.
"I was with Roger, like I told you." she asked looking over at her.
"Roger's mom called here. Roger was in a car accident." she said looking over at her.
"Oh my God. Is he OK?" she asked looking over at her starting to cry.
"He's in the hospital. But you were supposed to be with him." she said looking over at her.
"What hospital April?" she asked looking over at her.
"Scarsdale General. Are you gonna answer me, or what?" she asked as Jules ran out of her room.
"Not now April. I gotta go. Tell dad where I'm gonna be and I don't know what time I'm gonna be home." she said slamming the door behind her as she rushed over to Mark's house. When she got there she rang the doorbell, but didn't know if anyone was home. She was about to walk away when Mark answered the door.
"Jules, what's the matter?" he asked opening the door seeing she was upset.
"Roger was in a car accident. Can you drive me to the hospital? Please?" she cried looking up at him.
"Yeah sure. Let me just get my keys." he said looking over at her.
"Thanks Mark. I really appreciate it." she said wiping her eyes.
"Is he OK?" he asked looking over at her.
"I don't know. April talked to his mom and she didn't say anything. I don't know what I'm gonna do if anything happened to him Mark. Nothing can happen to him." she cried looking over at him.
"I'm sure he's fine Jules. You know Roger. He would never leave you." he laughed taking her hand trying to lighten the mood.
"Mark what am I gonna do?" she cried looking over at him.
"He's gonna be OK Jules." he said squeezing her hand.
"I hope so Mark." she said looking down at her belly before looking out her window. When they got to the hospital she rushed into the emergency room to find Mrs. Davis.
"Julianna sweetie, he's gonna be OK. The doctor said he just has a broken wrist and a concussion. They're gonna keep him over night for observation, but he's gonna be OK." she said getting up to go to her.
"Can I see him? Please?" she asked looking over at her.
"Sure sweetie. He's been asking for you. He said you were gonna be with April and your dad and April thought you were with Roger." she said looking over at her.
"It's a long story Mrs. Davis. I'm gonna go see him, OK?" she said wiping her eyes as Mark stood behind her.
"OK sweetie. He's in the third room on the right. He might be resting though." she said reaching up to wipe the tears from her face.
"Thank you Mrs. Davis." she said before turning around to go to the room where Roger was. "Roger." she whispered entering the room. He was sleeping in the bed. His face was bruised and there was blood in his hairline. His wrist had a cast on it that went all the way up his arm to his elbow. She walked over to the bed and sat down. She took his hand and leaned her head on the bed and cried.
"Jules? Are you OK Baby?" he asked looking down at her.
"Roger. I should be asking you that question." she said looking up at him wiping her eyes.
"I'm fine Baby. I zigged when I should have zagged." he smiled looking down at her.
"Roger, you broke your wrist and you have a concussion. That's serious." she said looking up at him.
"Baby, I'm fine really. I'm only gonna be here overnight for observation and my wrist'll heal in 6 weeks. I won't be able to do the worm at the prom, but I wasn't gonna do it before either, so it's OK." he joked as she got up from the bed.
"Roger, you could have killed yourself." she told him with her hands on her hips.
"Jules, why are you freaking out like this? A deer ran out and I couldn't stop in time. But I'm fine." he said looking up at her.
"Roger, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you." she cried looking over at him.
"Jules, come here." he asked holding his good arm out to her.
"I'm sorry Roger. I was just really scared for you." she said looking down at her belly before looking at him.
"I'm OK Baby." he said taking her hand and lifting it up to his lips to kiss it.
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight? I'm sure your mom could get them to let me and I'm sure my dad will too." she said looking up at him.
"Are you OK Jules?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just scared. I wanna stay with you." she said getting up to lay in the bed next to him.
"OK Baby. I'd like that. Are you OK? You're acting weird." he smiled leaning up to kiss her before laying his head on her chest.
"Roger, I need to tell you something and I don't know how." she said not looking at him.
"What's the matter Baby?" he asked looking up at her.
"Um... Roger, I'm um... I'm pregnant." she said looking down into his green eyes.
"You're what? Baby, are you sure?" he asked looking up at her.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I went to the free clinic today. They confirmed it." she said as tears fell from her eyes running her fingers through his hair.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked looking up at her.
"I don't know. I was scared I guess." she said looking down at him.
"Baby, it's gonna be OK, you know? We're gonna have a baby." he smiled looking up at her.
"You're happy?" she asked surprised.
"Yeah, Jules I am. I love you and you love me. I want to marry you and have a family with you." he smiled looking up at her.
"But Roger, what about college? What about you being a rock star?" she asked looking down at him.
"I can do that when the baby gets older. I need to get a job to support you and our baby." he smiled starting to caress her belly.
"Really?" she asked looking down at him starting to smile.
"Jules I love you so much." he smiled as he reached up to caress her face.
"I love you so much too Roger." she smiled leaning down to kiss him before leaning her head back to relax. The next morning Roger woke up early and looked up at Jules. She looked so beautiful when she slept. He looked down to her flat belly and put his good hand on it.
"Hey little one. Me and your mommy are gonna love you like crazy." he said smiling down as he caressed her belly. Just then Jules woke up.
"Hey Baby. What are you doing?" she smiled looking over at him.
"Nothing. Just bonding with my baby." he smiled looking over at her.
"Oh yeah? You're gonna be a great dad, aren't you?" she asked reaching up to caress his hair.
"I'm gonna try to be." he smiled reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "How did you sleep?" he asked smiling at her.
"OK. I mean, this bed is uncomfortable, but waking up to you makes it worth it." she smiled looking over at him.
"Baby, what are we gonna do? I mean, how are we gonna tell our parents about the baby?" he asked looking over at her.
"I don't know Roger. My dad's gonna kill me when he finds out." she said cocking her head sideways to look at him.
"Maybe we should wait until you're 18 to tell everyone. That way, they can't do anything." he said looking up into her blue eyes.
"I was thinking about that. Maybe that would be the best thing. I mean, he's still gonna freak out, but at least it won't be that bad. And he can't stop us from having the baby." she said putting her hand on her stomach for the first time.
"Jules, everything is gonna be OK you know. I promise. I'm gonna take care of you and our baby." he smiled looking over at her.
"I know Roger. You've done nothing but take care of me since the day we met." she smiled leaning over to kiss him tenderly.
"So what do you want, a boy or a girl?" Roger asked as they lay in his bed after he got out of the hospital.
"A boy." she laughed looking over at him.
"A boy? No way. I want a girl. One with the most beautiful blue eyes like her mommy's." he smiled leaning over to kiss her.
"What's wrong with a boy who has your green eyes? I love your green eyes." she smiled looking over at him.
"Nah, I want my little girl to have the same blue eyes as the love of my life." he smiled looking over at her.
"You would be such toast if we had a little girl with my eyes. You know that, right?" she laughed looking over at him.
"I don't care. As long as my little girl looks like her mommy, I'll be the happiest guy in the world." he smiled kissing her deeper.