Author's Note: The reviews on the last chapter were amazing, and I thank everyone who took the time to drop me a line. This chapter, again, carries straight on from the previous chapter. Enjoy!

Dear Ms. Beckett.

It is my delight to offer you admission into the Stanford class of 2019. Congratulations! Your application set you apart from thousands of other applications we received for the upcoming year...

Tears began flowing freely down her face and she couldn't read further. This is what she had been waiting years for! She momentarily forgot about the small human growing inside her as she flipped through the information Stanford had sent her. She was looking at a form full of meal plan options when her mother called her to come for dinner and reality came crashing down. Her tears of happiness were replaced by tears of sadness as she made her way to the table.

"Katie, what's wrong," her father asked, noticing the tears on his daughter's face.

"I got into Stanford," she smiled.

"Then why the tears?" She grabbed a sandwich and bowl of soup from the kitchen before returning to the table and joining her parents.

"I'm happy, and I'm sad... but everything's good. It's, well, I just started to think about what moving across the country would actually be like. I'd miss you guys," it was only partly a lie; she would miss her parents if she ended up moving away. She was not ready to reveal her biggest problem to her father.

"Nah, you'll get over us in about ten minutes. You love California!" her father jibed. Kate made quick work of her dinner and made her excuse.

"I'm going to my room now. I have a few people to tell about Stanford." Once she was alone in her room she pulled out her phone and shot a text to her best friend other than Rick.

K: Hey. You busy?

L: Nope! Whatcha want?

K: I'm gonna call you.

She tapped the icon on her screen and her friend answered instantly.

"Hey, girl! What's up?" her friend asked brightly.

"A lot is happening with me, Lanie. But what about you? How is NYU treating you?" Lanie was a year ahead of Kate in school and was already enrolled in university courses.

"Same old, same old. Really, nothing is new with me. But you! You said something's up. Talk," she demanded. Kate let out a sigh.

"I got a lot of news today," she began. "Smallest first: I got into Stanford, Lanie," finally some excitement leaked into her voice.

"Girl, that is awesome! How many does that make now?" Kate glanced at the growing stack of acceptance letters on her vanity.

"Enough," she smiled into the phone.

"But wait, you said that was the small news. If that's small, what the hell is big news to you?" Before her friend could start speculating, Kate spat it out.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Lanie," she prompted.

"I'm gonna kill that boy of yours," she snarled.

"Lanie, as much as I appreciate the offer, it does take two. We were always careful; we always used protection. But it happened."

"Does Rick know? Do your parents know? What are you planning on doing with the baby?"

"Rick knows, my mom knows, and I have no idea what to do about the...baby." She tripped over the word "baby" and felt tears start to sting her eyes. "It's just, it's a huge decision, you know?" She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"Well, whatever you choose, I'll be there for you, Honey."

"That's what mom and Rick both said, that they'll be there for me. I'm glad I'll have support after I make the decision, but what about now, huh? I'm trying to make the biggest decision of my life, and I can't! I just don't know what to do! I don't know how to make a decision like this! I-"

"Hey," Lanie cut her off, "okay, okay. Let's talk about this. Would you consider raising this baby? Do you think your parents would be supportive of that?" Kate ran a hand through her hair.

"I don't know. I mean, I'm 17. I have no idea what I'm doing with my own life right now, let alone someone else's. My mom says she's behind me whatever I do, but I don't know what my dad would do." She grabbed a pillow from behind her on the bed and punched it in her lap.

"If your dad were okay with it, do you think you'd be able to raise it?" Kate chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before replying.

"Well," she hesitated, "I'm not sure. I'm young, and I'm inexperienced. So is Rick. I think it would depend on how much support we could get from our parents. I don't know how my dad and Martha are going to react to this. But, they say nobody is ever really ready for parenting, and they just learn as they go. So maybe?"

"Okay," Lanie continued, "If you aren't comfortable raising the baby, how about adoption?"

"I don't know about that either. I mean, it's my baby, and I don't know how I would feel knowing that he or she is out there in the world with someone else. What if I ran into my kid someday and didn't even know it was my kid? How heartbreaking would that be? Or what if they ended up with some horrible parents, like worse than two stupid teenagers?"

"Sweetie, you're unlucky, but not stupid. Um, how would you feel if you had an abortion?"

"How would I feel? Relieved? Horrible? Some mix of both. I mean, I know it's the most logical decision to make at this point in my life. Then I can go to Stanford and then onto law school and I won't have to worry about this anymore. But I know that it's a life. I don't know how I'd live with myself if I ended a life," her voice was raw.

"It sounds to me like you don't really want an abortion, and you don't want to give it up, but you might be okay with keeping it. I know it's a lot to take in, but maybe you should talk this over with Rick. I know you'll decide what to do on your own and you just needed me as a sounding board. And once you make your decision, nobody is going to be able to change your mind."

"Lanie, you're the best, and you're totally right. I need to talk to Rick, and our parents, but I think... I think I might keep this baby," she worried her lip between her teeth again. "Listen, thank you for being there, but I really need to talk to Rick. I'll call you later," she rushed to get off the line.

"Of course, Honey. If you need anything, you call me anytime."

"Thank you so much.," she rang off. She sighed and sank back against the pillows lining her headboard. The lure of sleep was tempting to her tired body, but she had to call her boyfriend before she fell asleep. She tapped Rick's name on her phone screen and placed the device up to her ear.

"Hey babe," he greeted. She heard the sound of his bed springs as he settled onto his own bed.

"Hey, you got a few minutes to talk?"

"For you, I have a lifetime," he smiled into the receiver.

"I wanted to talk to you about the baby. I've been thinking about it nonstop, and I think I want to try to raise it. I know it's not going to be easy, but I think we can do it. I mean, if you're okay with it that is. I can't do this alone. But if you don't want to-"

"Kate," he interrupted, "that's fine with me. You know I'm the idealist here; we can do anything!"

"Rick," she said doubtfully, "can we really do this? Really think about it. Think about how it's going to change our lives. I don't know about you, but it's definitely changing where I go to school." Rick caught the downturn in her tone.

"Wait," he caught on, "did you hear from Stanford?" He heard her yawn before responding.

"Yeah," she admitted, "I got accepted. But that doesn't matter now. I'm not going," she said dejectedly. "There's no way I can go to Stanford with an infant. No. I've already gotten into NYU and Columbia-"

"Jesus, Kate. Where else did you get in?"

"Well, I applied to a lot of schools so my options would be open. So far I've also gotten into USC and Emory. There are some I haven't heard from and a handful I didn't get into, but I think it's pretty clear I'm staying close to home. I'm going to need support from you and Martha and Mom and Dad. Wait, you, Rick, what are you doing after high school?"

"Going to NYU with my sweetie," he replied casually. "What? I got in there too. Seems they aren't so discerning in their selection process."

"Hey, I don't want you to feel trapped or obligated because of this."

"Kate, just because I'm not the one carrying this baby doesn't mean I shouldn't have the same responsibilities. It took both of us to make this child. We should be in this together."

"Well, I just don't want you to end up resenting me or this baby."

"I don't think I could ever resent you," he said sincerely. She yawned again.

"That's sweet, but I don't want you to ever feel like I'm holding you back."

"You don't hold me back; you make me a better person. You inspire me to try harder at everything I do. I love you, Kate, and I don't want you to doubt that."

"I know you love me" she said sleepily, "and you know I love you too. I just wanted to be sure you're really okay with this."

"Yes, I'm fine with this. I told you I'd support you no matter what. I mean that. Now, you sound really tired, so I'm going to let you get some rest."

"But it's only 9:30," she protested. "God, I'm pathetic."

"Not pathetic," he assured, "just pregnant. That's really going to start zapping your energy, you know."

"Just pregnant," she laughed. "Okay, I wish I had more energy to fight you, but I don't, and I'd really like to go to sleep now. Good night, Rick. I love you."

"Mm, love you too. Sleep well."

She ended the call and barely plugged her phone into its charger before she fell asleep on top of her covers, still fully clothed from school that day.

Author's Note: So much dialog! Eventually we will start skipping time between chapters, otherwise this story would end up with over 600 chapters, and that's a little excessive. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read this far, and ask that you leave me a little review. They're awesome.