Chapter 5

Rachel stood before her mirror, gawking at the small swell in her stomach. She had been staring at it for the past fifteen minutes while listening to her fathers' soft chatter from downstairs. Her stomach was in knots and her palms were sweaty. She was trying to work up the nerve to go downstairs and tell her fathers about the secret growing inside of her; the secret she had kept to herself for weeks. She inhaled deeply and dropped her baggy shirt, hiding her small bump.

Her limbs felt like they were bolted to the ground as she hauled herself towards the stairs. Her body began to tremble as she stood in the living room before her fathers who sat on the couch.

"Hey pumpkin." Hiram smiled warmly.

"Can I talk to you guys?" She asked quietly, her voice shaking slightly.

"Of course." Leroy nodded, sliding over and patting the couch between him and his husband. He exchanged hopeful glances with Hiram. Rachel hadn't talked about what happened. She had been so closed off for the past three months and it was worrying the two men.

Rachel remained standing, ignoring her father's welcoming gesture. She had rehearsed the speech in her head fifty times, but all words escaped her mind in this moment and she knew she had to blurt it out before she chickened out. "I'm pregnant."

The room fell into a heavy silence. Leroy's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped slightly as he stared at his daughter, attempting to process her words. Hiram froze with an unreadable expression drawn across his features.

"A-are you sure?" Leroy asked.

Rachel nodded, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "I took three tests. They were all positive."

"They could be wrong though." Leroy said. Rachel couldn't be pregnant. She just turned fifteen. She was still a baby herself.

Rachel lifted her shirt to reveal the small bump. "I'm starting to show, I have morning sickness, I haven't had a period for three months, and I have heartburn a lot."

Hiram's eyes peeled away from his daughter's face to look at her stomach. He felt sick. "This can't be happening."

"Okay, it's okay." Leroy said with a deep breath looking between his husband and daughter. "There are options."

"Rachel, have you considered an abortion?" Hiram asked gently.

Rachel was taken aback by her father's suggestion. "An abortion?"

"Dad makes a good suggestion. I think an abortion is the best option." Leroy's voice was soft as he kept his eyes on his daughter.

"You want me to kill my baby? This is my baby. It's half of me and it didn't ask for this! This child is innocent!" Rachel was feeling anger rise within her.

"Rachel, you're dealing with enough already and now to throw a pregnancy on top of all of this?" Leroy said. "The temple will excuse it for something like this."

"This has nothing to do with religion! This has to do with the fact that this is my child! Yes I am dealing with a lot and do you really think feeling guilty for the rest of my life because I killed my own child is going to help? I would never forgive myself for that." Rachel's voice grew louder with each sentence, furious with her fathers. "I am not getting an abortion because I love this child already. I might be young and it might not be the right time and this baby was created out of something horrible, but this baby is my baby and it's been growing inside of me for three months already and I love him or her."

Hiram and Leroy glanced at one another. Leroy took a step forward towards his daughter. "Rachel, you can't…"

"Leroy, maybe we should drop this for now." Hiram shot his husband a warning look.

"Have you considered adoption?" Leroy asked his daughter.

Rachel let out a puff of air and her shoulders dropped. She turned on her feet and started for the stairs. "Thank you so much for supporting me."

Hiram glared at his husband at his daughter's sarcastic and bitter remark. "Rachel…"

"No! I thought you would help me and support me!" Rachel spun back around, gritting her teeth furiously. "I've been working up the nerves to tell you for three months and I told myself I was being stupid for being nervous because you've done nothing but support and love me and I guess I wasn't being stupid. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not getting an abortion, but I've considered adoption. But honestly I have no idea what I'm going to do and I thought you would listen to me and help me make a choice, not force your opinions on me. I've been forced into doing enough things lately."

Hiram watched as Rachel stormed up the stairs. He jumped slightly at the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut. He sighed as he turned towards Leroy. "Look what you did."

"You're the one who suggested the abortion first." Leroy accused, throwing his hands in the air.

"I asked her if she thought about it once. I didn't try to convince her to get one over and over even after she clearly stated she wasn't." Hiram retorted.

"Our daughter is pregnant! She is fifteen and she has a baby growing inside of her. We are going to be grandparents." Leroy kept his voice low but firm. "She's not pregnant because she made some stupid mistake; she's pregnant because she was raped. She tried to kill herself less than three months ago. Do you really think she can handle being pregnant?"

"Rachel is strong. She will get through this, all of this." Hiram said. "Honestly, she can't handle an abortion. She is a vegan because she loves animals too much. She cries during Jaws because she feels bad for the shark. She rescues bugs from the pool. She almost had a panic attack when she thought she accidentally ate meat. Do you honestly think she can recover from the guilt of terminating her pregnancy?"

"She is fifteen. She is a child! Her childhood is going to be over if she keeps this baby."

"Her childhood ended the minute that monster decided to assault her." Hiram seethed through gritted teeth.

Leroy wasn't sure if Hiram's anger was directed towards him or Jason. "She needs to focus on recovering. You and I both know how much work and responsibility a child is and how much it changes your life; takes over your life. And that was when we had months to prepare and wanted one and were settled down in our lives. She is fifteen; a freshman in high school. What about her dreams? What about her school? Her singing and dancing and Broadway?"

"We help her. She can continue with the tutor homeschooling her and if she wants to go back after the baby is born then we hire a babysitter on the days we can't take care of it. She can still get her dreams and Broadway and do what she loves. It just might be pushed back a few years or be a little harder to get. But we will be there for her because we are her parents."

"She needs to focus on getting better right now." Leroy retorted.

"It doesn't matter what you think because it's her decision. And no matter her decision we need to stand by her and support her."

"And what happens when she has the baby and resents it?" Leroy asked bitterly.

Hiram sighed with annoyance and squinted his eyes at his husband. "I can't even believe you right now. Do you know our daughter? She already told us she loves the baby. And I told you, we support her no matter what. If that did happen, we would deal with it from there and maybe take the route of adoption."

Leroy opened his mouth to speak, but Hiram interjected.

"If you don't want to support our daughter then feel free to walk out that door." Hiram pointed to the front door angrily before he stormed up the stairs.

Uh oh! Everyone is mad at each other! Thanks for reading! I'm so sorry for the delay and for those of you who read the sequel and thought I was updating sooner. I had a really busy semester and then got sick. But I am feeling much better and have a lot of free time ahead of me. Thank you for being so patient!

Review!