Chapter Two: The First Day of Their Lives
Seventeen and pregnant. That was the worst combination she could think about. But, thinking about it, she had it better than some. At least she still had a home. Angry parents, but a home no less.
"Emma," Spike said standing by the steps that led upstairs. "I need to talk to you about, that."
Emma, who had been awake since five in the morning, looked over at her mother as she folded her shirt. Due to her inability to sleep, Emma decided to spend her time doing something productive, like laundry.
"I made an appointment see the doctor today." Spike said. Emma's brows began to knit together. "I want to be sure Emma."
Understanding, Emma nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"Do you know what position you've put yourself in?"
The question seemed to throw Emma off for a while. It was not the question itself, but more like the tone used. Spike came down in a calm and collected manner and then that question came and it seemed as if Emma was in deeper trouble than she was last night. She pondered about that for a moment. How much more trouble could she really be in?
"Emma, do you know what raising a kid in high school is like?" Spike continued, breaking Emma's thoughts. "You don't have a job. Sean's job barely covers for his expenses in his apartment. Neither of you know how to raise a child. This is serious Emma! Just what were you two thinking?"
Emma sighed. Of course she was in more trouble.
"Mom, I said sorry. We did-"
"Sorry? Is that the best you can come up with?" Spike interrupted. "When I was pregnant-"
"I'm not you." Emma interrupted, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Back talking was bad enough, but doing it now was near suicidal. Her mother could kill her now.
And Spike's face showed it.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Spike all but hissed out.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." Emma tried to plead her way out.
"No. What did you mean by that?" Spike questioned again.
Emma stood silently for a moment as she searched for anything to say now.
"You think he loves you, huh?" The statement brought Emma back into reality as she looked at her mother once again. "He says it. He shows it. You absolutely believe that Sean, a boy who is leaving for the army, will always be there for you when you need him the most, right?" Emma dumbly nodded. What was her mother getting at? "Those were the exact same thoughts I had when I was pregnant with you. And you know what? I was dead wrong."
"Sean does love me!" Emma retorted. It was one thing for her mother to lash at her, but doubting Sean's love was going overboard. Emma knew that she would hear more of this later, but for now, she had someone to defend. "And if we were given the chance, he and I could have thought of a plan about the future. But you and your husband kicked him out before we had the chance!"
"Em-"
"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have told you in the first place!" Emma cut her mother off.
The reaction on Spike's face showed Emma a mixture of horror and shock. The rage that was once in the shorter woman had completely left her. Emma felt her own anger building and then realized that this was her mother she was speaking to. The woman she had always admired and tried to be.
"Mom," Emma said in a softer voice. "I'm sorry."
"…" The silence was almost as threatening as the looks Spike had been giving her daughter. "Why?"
"Because I knew that you would freak out." Emma answered. "And…" Emma paused as she gathered her words right. "I didn't want to end up like Manny."
"Oh Emma, I would never kick you out, pregnant or not." Spike said. "I just… I don't want to see you hurt, at all."
"Sean would never hurt me." Emma said.
"Again, you mean."
The statement momentarily caused the smallest of doubts to slip from the shadows of Emma's mind. Sean has harmed in the past but…
"N-no. No." Emma said. "He would never do that to me. I know he won't. He already offered to stay behind, but I told him to go."
Spike gave Emma a nod.
"If you say so. Now get ready for school. Snake's about to leave."
It did not take Emma long to finish preparing for school. All that was missing were her shoes, and once they were on, she was eating and waiting for Snake to come to the car. She did not necessarily like riding with her stepfather to school, but she chose not to argue with her irritated mother.
When Snake came to the car, he got in with a long heavy sigh. From the look on his face, Emma knew that Snake had limited sleep last night.
"Emma," Snake began. Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes. She knew this was coming. "Your mother is scared. She doesn't want you to go through the same thing she did."
"I know." Emma said.
"I made a small mistake by merely watching you grow up. I will help you raise it if the worst should happen." Snake said. "But promise me that you will never get yourself in this position again."
"I promise." Emma said. "Thanks Snake."
"You're welcome."
After arriving at school, Emma made a beeline to her locker. She did not talk to her friends in the hallway, nor did she want to. She just wanted to get today over with.
"Hey Em, hold up!" Emma silently cursed her luck. Of course Manny would be the one to catch her going to class. The girl had a tendency to show up during Emma's worst moments. Then again, didn't all nosey best-friends? "What's the rush today?"
"Rush? No rush! I'm just going to class." Emma said quickly. Manny's tilted head and frown gave Emma the feeling that her speech was not convincing. Emma sighed. "I'm just a little anxious to hear from Sean later on."
"Oh…" Manny said.
Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes. Did Manny really think that she stayed around the phone all day waiting on his call? Not to speak badly of her friend, but just who did Manny think she was talking to; herself? No one in their right mind spent their entire day waiting on a boy to call, but Manny who would probably always take Craig's calls, even if he was married with children.
Emma smiled. "Yeah, that's all."
"I'm sure he's going to call." Manny said as Emma mentally added a "Duh" in response. "Well, come on. English is calling our names."
"Unfortunately…" Emma said.
It was not like Emma to space out during class. And for the first five periods of the day, and lunch, she had done just that. The reason?
Well, to be correct, there were reasons. The first one was the fact that she was pregnant. It seemed like only yesterday Liberty was in this predicament, and the day before, Manny. Emma sighed. She was never a true believer of karma or luck, but it seems as if her friends' bad luck was rubbing off of her. And like her two friends, she was pregnant by a boy who she dearly loves who has once hurt her before. Coincidence? She hardly thought so anymore.
The second thing was what her mother said earlier, added with her new perceptive of luck. Sure, Sean promised he would be there- and half of her believed him- but the other half did not. If her hypothesis about karma and luck were true, then she would end up in a similar position as Manny and Liberty. Putting herself and Sean in as the variables, and she concluded that the pregnancy would cause the two to fuss and fight, like Manny and Craig and Liberty and J.T. Did she want that? No.
Emma shook her head. There was one valuable lesson that she learned from her two friends: Keep the kid. In the long run, both Liberty's and Manny's decision ended up in a death. Though Manny would argue with Emma that her baby was never really a baby, Emma still believed that death was death; murder was murder; and a fetus is a living thing. And in Liberty's case had she kept their son, J.T would have probably never dated Mia, J.T would have been with Liberty the night he was stabbed, crisis avoided. But, that was the past and there was nothing Emma could do about it but learn from it. Ça la vie, right?
The third, and most important thing was, herself and the baby. Would she be physically fit to have this child? Would it come out with any deforms or something of the sort?
"…ma… Emma!" Emma snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Liberty, who was calling her. "Are you going to run for valedictorian or not?"
Emma blinked in confusion. "What?"
"This is our senior year. Are you going to run-"
"She's probably in La-La Land again Liberty." Manny said, currently applying lip gloss to her lips in the midst of Media Immersion. "She's been doing it all day long." Manny paused and smiled. "I think Sean really has her sprung."
"Whatever." Emma replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I think you should run." Damian said to Emma. "You'd make a good valedictorian."
"Aren't you running?" Manny questioned.
Damian shrugged. "Good competition never killed anyone. Well, not in this case."
The three girls looked at one another before turning back to Damian.
"I'll let Liberty run." Emma said.
"R-Really? Are you sure Emma? I mean-"
"Liberty, you'll do fine." Emma said, not really wanting to hear Liberty's theories on why Emma should run and not herself. Thankfully, the bell rang. "Thank God…"
"Alright class, same time tomorrow." Snake said. "Emma, can I talk to your for a second."
Crap it, Emma thought. She was home free and yet, this happens.
"Yes?" Emma said stepping up to his desk.
Snake waited until everyone else was out of the class before speaking in a quiet tone.
"Sorry I can't make it to your meeting today. I have a meeting in ten minutes."
Emma gave a smile. "Don't worry about it. I'll go by myself and tell you all about it."
"Take my car. Your mother can pick me up after the meeting." Snake said reaching into his desk. When Emma was younger she always pictured her father coming back into her life and handing her, the keys to a new car. Since she now knew how highly impossible that seemed, she pictured Snake filling in the space and he has yet to fail after his small affair with her ex's mother. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Emma said taking the keys.
"Drive-"
"I know, I know. I'll be safe." Emma said walking out of the classroom. And again, for the second time, there was Manny. "You waited on me?"
"Don't I always?" was the deadpan response. "So, what did he want?"
"Uh, nothing. He just wanted me to pick something up for him since he's got a meeting." Emma replied.
"I wish I could go with you buy the cheerleaders need me. I'll see you later." Manny said before walking off.
Emma sighed heavily before walking towards Snake's car. As she walked, for one odd reason or another, she had flashes of what used to be. Things such as Paige using the word "hon" in every other sentence or Spinner bullying J.T and Toby until the latter began dating his sister or when Manny was not the- to put it lightly- promiscuous girl she was today. No, Emma thought of the simpler times. Spinner was the bully who did nothing but the occasional prank, Jimmy was the jock, Hazel was Jimmy's cheerleader girlfriend, Paige was the dominant one, Manny was the giggly one, J.T was the class-clown, Toby was the nerd, and she was debater. Life was so much easier back then.
Getting into the car, Emma made sure that she adjusted the seat to her comfort before starting the car up.
"Here we go." she murmured to herself before pulling out of the teacher's parking lot.
The last time she was here… The last time she sat in this exact seat… J.T died. Her friend of several years died in this very hospital. Ironically, here she was seeing if she would give birth in this place.
"Nervous?" a girl asked beside her. Emma turned to see a girl about her age, give or take a year, with dark brown curls and green eyes shielded behind pink trimmed glasses. Emma gave her a small nod. "Pregnant too, huh?"
"How did you know?" Emma asked.
The girl shrugged. "You look like me and I look like you. I'm Elizabeth, but people call me Lizzie."
"Emma." Emma said. "You're pregnant?"
"Yep. My jerk of a boyfriend forgot to wrap it up and here I am." Lizzie said before giggling. "Why do I love that idiot so much, I'll never know."
"But, you're only like-"
"Seventeen?"
Emma nodded. Yep, this Lizzie girl and her were practically on the same boat. So, Emma figured, her life could not be that bad if Lizzie could sit here with a smile plastered on her face.
"Where is he?" Emma asked.
Lizzie sighed. "Learning how to box. He has some dream about becoming a boxer. I support him, but sometimes it gets in the way of 'we time' if you know what I mean."
"I understand." Emma said. "Mine is off in the military."
As if on cue, Lizzie's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Yeah… He said he would call to tell me the earliest he could return, but he hasn't." Emma said. "He wants to know if the test was true or not."
"…"
Emma did not know if Lizzie's silence was out of confusion or astonishment because the other girl's face showed a mixture of the two. Then Lizzie turned her attention to her hands in her lap, sliding her glasses back up for a moment.
"So he knows, huh? How'd he take it?"
The question was a lot quieter than the tone the two had been using up until now and it nearly startled Emma a bit. She stayed quiet, hoping Lizzie would pick up on this and say the sentence louder.
"What?" Emma asked.
"Your boyfriend… He knows that you're pregnant, right?" Lizzie restated. Emma nodded. "How did he take it?"
"Well, he was surprised a bit. Then he said that we had to tell my parents. Afterwards-"
"Your parents know too!"
The yell got more attention than Emma wanted, but she nodded anyway. It did not take a genius to realize that Lizzie's pregnancy was kept secret and Emma now realized that if she had done what she wanted to do and not what Sean wanted, she would be in Lizzie's spot right now.
"Lizzie, you might want to tell your parents." Emma said.
Lizzie shook her head violently. "No, nononono. They will kick me out like when they found out that my older brother was doing drugs."
"You can't keep it from them forever you know."
"I know! I just…" Lizzie paused. "My parents are like the deciders of what's perfect and everything else. I have to be the perfect child or else… I don't want to think about what else."
"But, you seem so outspoken and now you seem…"
"Terrified?"
"Yeah." Emma response was a bit faster than she wanted. "Don't you think you should at least try to explain to them what happened?"
Lizzie sighed. "Not really. You see, I've been saving up and-"
"You're moving out!"
Now it was Emma that was causing attention. Lizzie nodded.
"But… You can't! You wouldn't be able to live on your own and maintain a baby without either your parents or your boyfriend knowing!" Emma said. "That's…" Emma paused. "That's exactly what I was thinking before Sean told me otherwise."
"So it's not such a dumb idea." Lizzie said with a hint of triumph.
"Please, think about that though. Talk to someone." Emma said.
"What do you think I'm doing with you?" Lizzie questioned. "I figured if you and I were anything alike, you'd give me some good advice."
Emma smiled. "I need advice myself. I'm pregnant. My boyfriend's away. And I live in the basement of my mother's house." The smile that came on Lizzie's face nearly screamed what Lizzie was thinking. "No. My mom would never approve of it."
"Well, if you ever change your mind," Lizzie pulled out a slip of paper and a pen, writing her phone number on it. "Here's my number." A doctor came to the waiting room and called out for Elizabeth Grayson. "That's me. Wish me luck?"
"Good luck." Emma said as Elizabeth walked with the doctor away. And no sooner did the two disappear behind the doors did another doctor come out. Emma smiled. "I'm right here Dr. Taylor."
The aged man smiled. "I know you are. Come on Emma, let's get this check-up out of the way."
Emma has always known her to have a better relationship with adults than her friends. Manny tended to draw the older male population's attention with the wrong reasons. Liberty only talked to adults that furthered her education. Darcy… Well, Emma did not want to think of Darcy's last "connection" with an adult. Neither the rape nor the one with Snake. So that left Emma, who was friends with a lot of adults.
Leading her to the small clinic room, Emma hopped on the bed, already knowing most of the procedures by heart. But this was different. Dr. Taylor almost never closed the curtain on the door and he never gave her the critical look he was giving her now. Had she been completely delirious, she would have screamed rape right there.
"Pregnant, huh?" was all he said. Emma gave a weak smile and nodded softly. "Your mother wanted me to give you a test myself, but I'm guessing that it is already pretty much clear to you right?" Again, Emma nodded. "I guess there's nothing more for me to do then. Well, next than giving you my daily piece of advice and a lollypop."
"I think I'm too old for the lollypop." Emma joked, though both of them knew how bad she wanted one at the moment.
"Emma," Dr. Taylor began. "You're a real smart and bright girl and I'm sure that you will make the right decision about this child. But I want you to know that you have other people looking out for you, so don't you ever think that you have to do something alone. Okay?"
Emma nodded. "Sure. Dr. Taylor."
"Good. Now be back here in two weeks. I'll give you a real test then to make sure that everything is going on well." Dr. Taylor said. "And in the meantime, take care of yourself. And if you need anything, just call."
"Sure." Emma said hopping off of the bed.
"I'm recommending that you get a good dose of family and friends." Dr. Taylor said with a smile. "They'll heal you of the smaller things."
"Sure…" Emma said.
Not knowing what else to say, Emma walked out of the room, awkward silence following her. She did not even want a sucker now. She just wanted to go to sleep. But when she walked out of the hospital, she saw a sight that she did not need right now. Lizzie crying.
"Hey," Emma said as she approached her. "What's wrong?"
Lizzie wiped her face as she turned to Emma.
"N-Nothing." Lizzie said with a sad attempt of a smile. "Just confirming what I know."
"And that is?" Emma asked.
Lizzie's smile dropped. "That I'm pregnant with a guy who doesn't want a child and my parents aren't going to be so acceptable of the idea and I-"
"You want to take a ride?" Emma cut the sobbing girl off. "My friend works at The Dot. He can whip us up some good milkshakes." Lizzie gave a genuine smile. "Come on. My doctor actually prescribed me to gain as much support and friends that I can, so I guess I can start with you, right?"
"Sure." Lizzie said…
"And we went to The Dot to talk." Emma said to her sons.
Justin's jaw dropped. "What? What happened next?"
"Yeah Mom, tell us!" Ryan added.
Emma chuckled. "No. That's enough for today. Besides, it's way past time for you two to start on your homework, so hop to it."
"Aw man." the twins said in unison as they walked sluggishly out of the kitchen.
Emma placed a hand on her stomach. "I hope you don't ask about my pregnancy with you too." Emma smiled. "Because your brothers will tell you a totally different story."