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For the next few weeks, Becca was constantly over Wilson's house. She'd spent the night occasionally and would be over every afternoon when Wilson didn't have practice. She'd sit there quietly and wouldn't be in the way. She'd use excuses like she wanted to see him or she was lonely, but Wilson knew that wasn't it. She just didn't want to be in her house. Her relationship with her parents had gone beyond the point of repair and she needed a place to escape.
Wilson went from thinking about Becca occasionally to often, and now to all the time. It was hard for him to concentrate in school or anything else because she was always on his mind. The only conclusion he ever came to was that everything was his fault and he needed to help her. He had to be the one to provide some sort of solace, because no one else cared enough to do it. And he cared plenty, more than he ever dreamed he would.
He began to contemplate marriage. A big change was in order, otherwise everything was going to crumble around her. He couldn't save her if she didn't feel that he was there for her. He needed to be the one that she came to when the going got rough. Becca was a strong willed, dependant individual. She would never be the one to ask for help. Marrying her would stand a chance at salvaging her sanity, allowing her to let her guard down, and letting them focus on the baby. None of those problems were things that were going to go away any time soon.
On the more practical side, he knew raising a baby together while they were apart would be next to impossible. Eventually, they would have to move in together. If they both weren't around all the time, it wouldn't be fair. One party would be stuck with all the work and the other would feel left out. Marriage would enable them to be together always. It would be more beneficial for the baby to grow up with a mom and a dad around, too.
Wilson wasn't stupid, though. He knew he couldn't get married at fifteen, and Becca couldn't get married at sixteen. Wilson looked up marriage laws at the local public library and found out getting a marriage license, especially if you're underage, would be a big process. Both of their parents would have to sign, they'd have to appear in front of a judge, they'd have to go for counseling regarding a multitude of issues. That took the wind out of his sails, but not completely. He would have to talk to his father first, and then to Becca. Wilson thought the idea was so perfect that he would be willing to go through the extra work and jump through all the hoops necessary to get it done. The question was, though, would anyone else?
One night, Becca didn't appear for dinner like she usually had been. He figured now was the perfect opportunity to share his wondrous idea with his mother and father.
"Where's Becca?" Dr. West asked.
Wilson shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she's busy or something." He would have stopped, but he continued. "I wish I knew where she was. I hate not knowing. I worry about her."
"That's understandable. She's carrying your child."
"Yeah, but I don't think it's just that. I don't think everything has to do with the baby."
"What are you talking about?"
"OK," he took a deep breath. "I want to marry Becca."
His father dropped his fork from his hand and onto his plate with a loud clang. "Did I hear you correctly? You want to get married?" Wilson nodded. "You're only fifteen!"
"So?"
"So! You have no idea what marriage is all about."
"Yes I do. It's about never wanting to be apart from someone. It's about going through life together and overcoming obstacles with someone else instead of being alone. It's about becoming a family."
Dr. West faltered for a second but stood his ground. "Even if you know all that, you can't possibly begin to understand what that means."
"Does anyone?" he retorted. "You get married to figure that all out, do you not? If we could have that without getting married, no one would marry."
His mother put her hand on Wilson's. "Are you serious? You really want to marry her?"
"Yes. It's the right thing to do- on my part and hers."
"Well, I can't promise you a miracle," his father started, "but I can say we'll look into it."
"I'll save you the trouble. I already did and it's not going to be easy. There's a long and involved process since we're under eighteen."
"All the more reason to say no."
"All the more reason to think of it. I saw all that and I still want to marry her. Please."
Geoffrey sighed. "Have you talked to Becca about this yet?"
"No, not yet. I wanted to see how you would react before I clouded her head with all this."
"And how did we do?"
Wilson smiled. "Not too bad."
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Becca came by that night. She said that she needed somewhere to study. The library was closed and all of her friends were too cool to do homework, so Wilson's was the only place she could think of.
"What do you need to study?"
"French vocabulary for a test tomorrow. If I don't pass this test then I'm in danger of failing for the semester."
"That's not good."
She laughed. "No, it isn't." They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Becca turned and sat on her leg so that she was facing Wilson. "Want to help?"
"How can I? You know I take Spanish."
"Just give me the English word and I'll tell you the French for it."
"OK." Becca handed him the paper and he scanned the list. Fifty words were on it.
"It's words from 'at the bank', 'at the library', and 'at the jeweler'."
"OK. Um…account."
"Le compte."
"Right. Mortgage."
"L'hypothèque."
"Vault."
"La chambre fort."
"Weekly periodical."
She grumbled. "Le quotidien?"
He shook his head. "Nope, that's a daily periodical. Weekly is…le-heb-dom-a-dare."
She grabbed his cheeks between the fingers of her right hand. "You're so cute."
He smiled. Wilson looked back down to the list and saw the first word under the "at the jeweler" heading. He wasn't sure if he should be doing this, but he figured it would be a nice transition into the topic. "Wedding ring."
"L'alliance."
"Speaking of wedding rings…"
She wasn't following at all. "Yes?"
"I've been thinking - just hear me out now – I've been thinking about us getting married."
"What! Why?"
That didn't go over too well. "Because we're having a baby together and I hate it when you're not with me."
"So? That doesn't mean we should get married Wilson!"
"But- but didn't you say that you can't stand living with your parents? If we get married then you're done with them. You can just stay with me and I'll take care of you."
"How? How will you take care of me? You're fifteen!"
"I don't know. But I know I can. People do it under worse conditions."
She went to yell again, but she saw the pain in his eyes. She was breaking his heart and she knew it. Instead of screaming, she took both of his hands. "Look, I know you mean well, but I just don't see how it would work out."
"Will you think about it at least?" She looked apprehensive. "Please Becca."
She smiled. "Sure, but I'm not making any promises."
He kissed her and they both felt it- that electric charge they had always felt when they kissed. As wrong as everything was, they always felt like they made sense. Somehow, they clicked. Becca pulled away hurriedly. She didn't like how he had so much power over her.
"I have to go." Becca grabbed her vocabulary sheet from his hands and walked out the door.
Wilson leaned against the wall and let out a frustrated sigh. He felt it, he knew she felt it. What was stopping her? When he opened his eyes, his dad was standing in front of him.
"Do you love her?"
The last time his father asked this question, he was unsure and confused. Now wasn't any better. "Maybe."
Geoffrey smiled knowingly. "If you can get her to agree, and I mean really agree, then you have my blessing."
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A/N: Well, um, let's see. The French vocab came from my actual French vocab for that week. Just a nice little personal touch, I guess. Hmm, so what's going on now? Wilson half proposed. This is the thing I think I really messed up. If I had to pick one thing that sucks the most from this story, it would be this. It's just – snap! marriage. I could blame that on the NaNo rush, but that would be a lie.
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Care to guess how long it's going to take Becca to come around? Review.
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