Recap:
"See you later, Andy," Nina said, kissing him on the cheek.
Andy smiled. "Bye."
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"Does Madison's baby have a daddy?"
Chapter 7:
Three weeks later.
It was nearly eleven o'clock on a Friday night, and Ephram and Amy were on the couch in the Brown's living room. Andy and Delia had already gone to bed. A movie they had rented earlier was on the TV, but they weren't really paying attention to it. They were just talking, cuddled up.
"You know, I think this is the first time we've been alone like this in a couple of weeks," Amy said, twisting her fingers around the ends of Ephram's hair.
"I know," He said wistfully. "Senior year is harder than I thought it would be. Not really because of homework type stuff, just getting together applications and portfolios and things like that. I wish I'd known I was going to be this busy."
"Well, it's okay," Amy said, laying her head down on his chest. "I think it's better this way, for now. It makes me all the more fond of you."
Ephram just smiled and kissed the top of her head. Just as they were preparing to settle in silence for a while, there was a knock at the door. It actually sounded like more of a rap. At first, Ephram thought it was just the wind because the sound was so soft until he heard it a second time.
"Is there someone at the door?" Amy asked.
"It sounds like it," Ephram said half-worriedly as he got up, wondering who would be at their door that late.
Amy shrunk back into the couch as Ephram looked through the small window near the top of the door. "I don't see anyone," he said, opening the door. He looked around and was about to go back in the house when he looked down. His breath got caught in his throat and he thought he was going to pass out from lack of air when he saw the carrier covered with layers and layers of blankets. There was a note tied to the handle of the carrier. He tore it off and opened it up. "Kimberly Kellner-Brown. I can't do this. Don't call." That was all that it read.
"Ephram, what is it?" Amy asked, coming up behind him. "Oh my god," she said under her breath.
Ephram slowly turned to look at Amy. "It's a girl," he said in a trance, "I knew it would be a girl…" he squatted in front of the carrier and peeled the layers of blankets back. She was only one month old, but her dark brown hair was already evident. Kimberly immediately started crying.
"Come on, Ephram, let's get her out of the cold," Amy said, concerned. She picked the carrier up. She and Ephram sat back down on the sofa and carefully set the carrier on the floor in front of them. "What does the note say?" She asked Ephram.
"K-Kimberly Kellner-Brown," Ephram answered.
"Is that it?"
"I can't do this. Don't call," he finished. "Why would Madison do this?"
"Taking care of a baby is a big responsibility, Ephram," Amy said.
"So why would she drop this on me? Does she think that I can handle it better than her or something? What bullshit!" Ephram said loudly, starting to get frustrated.
"Ephram, stop, you're going to wake everybody up," Amy said quietly, rubbing his back slowly with one hand while rocking the carrier with the other. Kimberly was still crying softly. "Aren't you going to pick her up?"
Ephram looked Amy square in the face. "I haven't held a baby since Delia."
"That doesn't matter."
Ephram reached down and took the baby in his arms. He was surprised at how right it felt. He slowly rocked her. "Shh," he whispered. Soon, Kimberly's crying had subsided.
Amy looked at Ephram and Kimberly with tears in her eyes. "See, you're a natural," she said to Ephram.
"Amy, what am I going to do? I don't know anything about raising a kid. I'm only 17," he said, distressed.
"It'll be okay, Ephram," Amy said, trying to convince herself through her words as much as she was trying to convince Ephram. "You have all kinds of people to help you. I know you can do this. As a matter of fact, I think that you'll be just a good of a parent, if not better, than Madison would be. Look, I know the situation kind of sucks, but…" Amy trailed off.
"I know," Ephram said. "I need to face reality, you're right."
Amy just looked at him and shrugged a little.
"Thank you for having so much faith in me," he said. "I love you."
Amy just smiled. "Look, I'm really tired, do you want me to stay here? 'Cause I can, I just… need somewhere to crash for a while."
"Can you really? You can sleep here on the couch if you want. I guess… I guess I'll just go upstairs with Kimberly," Ephram said, wondering how this was going to work.
"You know what, it's okay, I'll just go up there with you," she said. "We'll figure something out."
Once they got upstairs, Ephram set the carrier down right beside his bed. Amy was carrying the blankets. "I hope this will work for her to sleep in for the night," Ephram said.
"The carrier or her clothes?" Amy asked.
Ephram shrugged. "Both." Then he sighed. "This is going to require so much…"
"Ephram, stop it. You're going to get through this, you're so not alone," she said, putting her arms around his waist and hugging him. "I'm sure everyone in this family will support you," Amy said. That was when she thought about her own family. What would they think about this? Ephram, raising the baby? Did they even know that he'd had one? Amy decided not to think about those questions right then, because she was getting distracted by Ephram, who was now sitting on his bed.
"Amy?" He said, interrupting her thoughts. "I'll sleep on the floor, you can sleep here," he said, motioning toward the bed.
Amy thought about this. "You know what, Ephram, it's okay. We can both sleep on the bed, we just don't have to do anything."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay, then," he said, laying down on the side next to Kimberly. He peeked over the bed to look at her. "She's already asleep." He had a sudden thought. "Oh, god, Amy, what if she gets hungry?"
"Well, it's 1AM now. Do you think she can last till 6?"
"Maybe. I hope so."
"Let's just get a few hours of sleep, then we'll go out shopping, okay?"
"Okay," Ephram said, relaxing. Amy lay down next to him. "You mind if I do this?" Ephram asked, putting his arms around her and holding her.
"Of course not," Amy said, kissing his arm. "Goodnight, Ephram."
"'Night, Amy." Ephram said sleepily. "Goodnight, Kimberly."
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