Manny hadn't been able to believe her eyes when she saw Craig and Joey walk in the doors at the clinic. Now, as she sat on the paper-covered table, in one of the rooms, she still couldn't believe the coincidence.
"Sorry I made up such a lame excuse," Emma was saying.
Manny shook her head. "You did better than I did. I couldn't even speak." She remembered the flood of emotions that had hit her when she had seen Craig. Elation, anger, guilt, sadness, all mingled together, wound up lodged in her throat, rendering her unable to say a word to him.
Spike glanced at her watch looking a bit impatient. "I wonder what's taking them so long."
"Y-you don't think that.anything could be wrong, could it?" Manny asked as the thought occurred to her.
"Oh, no, no of course not. They're probably just getting together some information. After all, what they need to tell you is different than what they would need to tell someone else."
After another few minutes, Dr. Perone re-entered the room, carrying several pamphlets.
"Well, Manny, the results of your home-pregnancy test were accurate- you're roughly eleven weeks pregnant."
"Eleven weeks?!" Manny exclaimed. "But I haven't even started to show!"
"A lot of mothers don't show in the first trimester, some hardly showing at all," Dr. Perone explained. "Especially since you told me that you've been training hard for cheerleading." She paused and glanced at Emma and Spike. "Would you two mind if I could speak with Manny alone for a few minutes?"
Spike and Emma quickly left, promising to meet Manny out in the waiting room.
Dr. Perone went to look at Manny's chart. "Okay, Manny, here's the deal. You're fourteen years old and you're pregnant. I can imagine what kinds of things are going through your mind right now." She handed Manny the pamphlets. "These will give you some information but they won't give you all of it."
Manny took them and put them with the others she had found in the waiting room.
"You have three options," the doctor continued. "Keep the baby and raise it yourself, abortion, or putting it up for adoption."
Manny nodded slowly. "And how do I decide that?"
Dr. Perone smiled kindly. "Sorry, sweetie, that's one of the things that I nor those pamphlets will be able to tell you. No one else can help you out either. Ultimately it's your decision. You have to do what you feel is right, what you will be able to live with."
"But I can't decide," Manny said, feeling tears spring into her eyes at the overwhelming decision. "I mean, my parents have always raised me that abortion is wrong. Not that I can even talk to them about it. And Craig, the baby's father should have a say in it too, shouldn't he? Well, then again, maybe he shouldn't." Her words were overlapping each other as she grew more and more hysterical.
Dr. Perone quickly took the girl's hand, rubbing it soothingly. "Calm down, honey. Listen, only you can make this choice. Not your parents, not the baby's father, no one but you." She handed Manny a tissue, which she took gratefully, dabbing at her eyes.
"How long do I have to decide? I mean, if I decide to go with an ab- abortion."
"Probably only a few more weeks. After that, most doctors will refuse to do it for you at all. Complications are more likely."
Manny nodded. "Well I probably won't do that. I don't really believe in it, you know?" She sighed then lowered herself from the table. "Thanks a lot for your help."
"No problem, Manny. Good luck, whatever you decide to do."
Manny found Emma sitting in a chair with Spike milling around the waiting room looking at the magazines in the rack. When she entered, they both hurried over.
"How did everything go?" Spike asked.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked simultaneously.
Manny smiled. "Everything went fine. And I'm okay. Really."
Spike smiled back. "Come on, girls. Why don't I take you out for lunch?" She led them out the doors towards the car.
"Sounds great," Emma said.
"Sure," Manny agreed. "Great." Even Manny herself was surprised at how calm she was being despite the circumstances. The prospects that loomed before her were enormous and yet Dr. Perone had helped her realize what she had to do. Knowing that, she felt a bit more secure.
"Have you decided what you're going to do?" Emma asked after they had been served at a nearby diner.
Manny nodded. "Yeah."
"Really?" Spike looked surprised.
Manny took a small bite of her cheeseburger, suddenly not feeling so hungry. "I guess I knew all along. I have to keep the baby."
Emma patted her friend's hand. "That's great. And I'm going to help you as much as I can."
"We both will," Spike added.
"Thanks so much you guys. I don't know what I would have done if you both hadn't been there." Manny suddenly felt her stomach heave. "Excuse me." She abruptly got up from the table and hurried to the bathroom.
As she knelt by the toilet, feeling miserable, she realized that this was just beginning.