Lollipops are for Kids

Ch 12

"What are you going to do when I go to college?" Oliver demanded of Lilly for the hundredth time. They were arguing again and their four month old son was crying in the back ground. Lilly had become exceedingly jealous of time Oliver spent with girls other than herself and even though she hated it, she hated the idea that he wanted to be with other people more. She asked him frequently if he preferred Miley to her and as much as she was nagging, Oliver was nearing the point of saying 'yes.' It wasn't as though he was in love with Miley…he was still in love with Lilly, but she was driving him mad. The day she had returned to school she had become paranoid of all the other females trying to steal him away from her and Charlie.

"I don't know," Lilly replied. She really had no idea. She wanted things to work out and for them all to be happy and at times, things were very happy, but she couldn't stand the way girls looked at Oliver when he was with Charlie. It was a huge turn on to see a guy with a baby and though she liked seeing him with the baby, she also hated it because she knew other girls liked it.

"I don't know what you want me to do," Oliver told his girlfriend. "I can't exactly turn down a full scholarship and try to get into some prestigious all-boys college. We've got a baby now. You should have figured it out by now—I'm not interested in anyone buy you."

Lilly sighed and relented her screaming. She had thought that when the baby was born things would be better, but instead she felt worse. She constantly worried that Oliver would find someone prettier, without stretch marks or some baby-fat still hanging on. Sometimes she couldn't sleep at night wondering if he was up on the internet talking to other girls and making plans for meeting them for a late night love fest. Had she been thinking properly she would have realized that she was being crazy, but her jealousy had been pushed to the maximum level after giving birth.

"You're really going to have to do something about the jealousy and arguing if you want to keep him," Miley had advised. "You're going to push him away if this continues."

Lilly took that as a sign that Oliver and Miley were talking about her relationship behind her back and was quick to berate her friend. After that outburst, Miley stopped talking about the two halves of the once sweet Lollipop altogether. As graduation moved closer, Lilly continued to stress about what would happen when Oliver got to college and started talking to girls more interested in sex. She would surely lose him, she thought, when he was around all the hormones of the slutty cheerleaders and the young activists and skanky vegans.

Oliver did the only thing left in his power to do to keep her stable for a little while longer: he promised her that the day after their graduation they would be married. He hoped that a license stating that he was all hers would be enough to comfort her. Lilly was able to relax a bit after he suggested they get married right out of high school and the next six weeks were pleasant. Oliver even hoped that things would continue to improve and things were looking up until he happened to mention to Miley that she looked nice in her sun dress on the beach the day before they were due to graduate. Another argument ensued and the wedding was almost called off.

"Will you please calm down?" Oliver asked his fiancé for the millionth time since Charlie was born. "I only want you."

Lilly cried for nearly an hour the next day when she found that her wedding dress hugged the contours of her slight belly a little too much. She cried again after Oliver got his diploma at graduation and once more at the party for the graduates that night. Oliver devoted all of his attention to Lilly the entire evening and prayed that the next day would bring some relief from his harried state of living.

"Once you guys are married you won't have to worry about anyone taking Oliver," Miley told her friend as she got ready for the ceremony.

"I'll be working out, so I'll get my body back and he'll see just how sexy I can be," Lilly confirmed. "And with the ring on his finger, most of the slutty girls will stay away."

"That's right," Miley confirmed half-heartedly. She, like Oliver, was hoping that the wedding would be a kind of intervention for Lilly and that it would make her see that he was totally devoted to her. Lilly experienced sheer bliss when Oliver said the words "I do" and the entire day went well thereafter. She and Oliver spent the summer finding housing and preparing to move closer to the campus, besides taking care of their child and Lilly couldn't have been happier when he spent the evenings alone with her after Charlie had gone to bed. Things were finally looking up for the new Mr. and Mrs. Oken.