Chapter 7
5:30am and Caroline found herself sat on the bathroom floor, throwing up yet again. She wasn't surprised by it anymore. The last couple of weeks had been the same – she was lucky her Mom had been working early morning shifts and had already left for work when she woke. She flushed the chain and washed her mouth out, switching off the light and making her way downstairs, not bothering to switch the light on as she reached the kitchen and sat at the table, pulling her legs up, resting her chin on her knees. She knew she needed to tell her Mom soon, as she'd started to develop a small bump now. It was noticeable to Caroline and even Bonnie had mentioned she was able to see it if she really looked, and she was now officially 13 weeks pregnant, and was hoping her sickness would soon start to ease. Stefan had given her some leaflets of his Mom's that he'd found lying around, explaining they were from a seminar she'd given and she was starting to learn more and more about her pregnancy. She found it interesting and amazing when she didn't think about how terrified she was. Despite looking confident on the outside about her choice to go through with the pregnancy, she was scared witless, having no idea what she was doing. Her Mom was going to hate her when she found out, that she was sure of. Their dreams about her going to college would be ruined and she was certain that finding the father was no longer a viable option.
She wiped her silent tears as they fell, hoping she'd find some comfort in Bonnie and Stefan when she went to school, watching the clock as the time ticked around to 6am and she heard movement in the hallway and then saw her Mom enter the kitchen, beginning to move around in the dark as if she were on autopilot. Caroline realised it was Thursday, and that meant her Mom was working a different shift to usual and as she watched every move her Mom made, she wondered if she would ever be as good a mother as she was. Would she be up at 6am going out to work to provide for her child? Liz continued around the kitchen and took the milk from the fridge, swiftly turning with her coffee in hand, her eyes settling on Caroline…
"Caroline! God honey you scared me!" she said, her breathing a little heavy, she walked over to the light switch, flicking the light on and illuminating the kitchen. "What are you doing sat down here in the dark?" Caroline didn't respond "Caroline?"
She bit her nails a little, and then glanced at the table before taking a shaky breath "I'm having a baby…" she whispered
"I'm sorry honey what? I just woke up…" Liz said, a frown forming on her face
"I'm having a baby…" Caroline wiped her eyes as more tears fell.
"What do you mean you're having a baby?" Liz moved closer to the table "Is this an assignment for health class or something?"
"No…" Caroline sobbed "I'm pregnant Mom…I'm sorry" She burst into tears and dropped her head to her knees, apologising over and over.
"You can't be Caroline." Liz sighed as she sank into the chair next to Caroline "Honey tell me your joking…Caroline?"
"Why would I joke about something like this?" Caroline ran her hand over her face "say something Mom please?"
"What do you want me to say? I'm shocked, I thought your father and I raised you better than this…"
"You did. I didn't mean to get pregnant." She said slowly trying to regain her breathing to normal. "It just happened…"
"When?" Caroline wasn't expecting "When did it happen?"
"13 weeks ago. Well that's how far gone I am so…it was when I was out with Bonnie and Elena." She said, cringing as she prepared herself for Liz's response.
"God Caroline, if it wasn't bad enough already, he was a one night thing?" She nodded "Out of all your friends Caroline, you're the sensible one, you had dreams…we had dreams"
"I still have dreams…" Caroline whispered, she looked up at Liz "I want to keep the baby." She told her "I've got my after school job in the cafe, I'll get more shifts, move out or whatever but I want to keep the baby…"
"Caroline…"
She shook her head "please don't try and change my mind, because you won't. I've had month to think this though, I know what I want…" she said confidently. "And I know this isn't want you want for me but I can still do college and things, just a little further down the track than planned…I just want you tell me it's going to be ok, I need my mom at times like this"
"Oh honey…" Liz pulled her daughter into a tight hug "This won't be easy. You'll be up all hours of the night, changing diapers and making bottles, if this is what you want then I can't tell you off for stepping up and dealing with it, but I'm disappointed Caroline. I wanted so much more for you." Liz kissed her forehead "Your Dad wanted you to be the best you could be…"
Another tear dripped down Caroline's cheek "Daddy would be disappointed wouldn't he?"
"You know I can't answer that Caroline" Liz said "I have to go to work…we'll talk more when I'm home."
Not exactly the reaction Caroline was hoping for was it really ? lets hope Liz can come round to the idea xx
