Helga remembered a long time ago where she watched, Brainy graduate Middle School. He had on tan pants with a white shirt on. He looked adorable up there accepting his diploma. He didn't graduate High School in the traditional sense. He obtained a GED so he can graduate earlier. He was already attending R.O.T.C so it was an easy transition for him to attend the military. Brainy was a year older than her and the only reason why he was older than his own class was due to his parents. They didn't want their little boy off to school yet, so they enrolled him much later on.
She remembered Brainy telling her about that. He was embarrassed and hoped no one would catch his age. He mentioned that Harold was older than himself. This was back when he attended PS118. He told her how many would tease, Harold calling him stupid. Brainy didn't want that so he remained quiet. It was only when, Helga told him to admit his age that if anyone teased him, just ignore it. There were many who were enrolled later in their early lives. So what is the big deal?
Today was, Arnold's graduation. Helga, Hailie, Miles, Stella, The Johannsen's, and the Heyerdahl's were there in the same row. When Phoebe accepted her diploma, Helga and Hailie cheered her along with her parents. They did the same thing when it came to, Gerald's name too.
"Hey Helga. Am I late?"
Her head turned to see a glistening, Sid crouched next to her. Sid won't be graduating until next year due to him wanting to party a lot after High School. "Well you are being a pain for everyone else. Why are you here?" She whispered.
Sid started to guffaw at her attitude now. "Oh I have something planned. Something that no one will forget here."
Watching him lift his shirt away to reveal fireworks, Helga growled. "Lay off on the pranks. Those could hurt others. It could hurt my daughter."
"Oh relax, Helga." Standing up, Sid spotted Stinky on the outskirts giving him a thumbs up. "No one will get harmed. Someone as hot as you can't afford wrinkles."
Watching him dash off, Helga spotted Miles standing up. "Excuse me, Helga." Miles quickly made his way out of the aisle and towards the stupid twosome.
Helga watched Miles speak to, Sid and Stinky for a while before watching him return. Hearing him mumbling about them being children, Helga took Hailie's hand when she spotted Arnold getting ready to step on stage. Helga felt her smile grow more as they heard his name and he walked forward to accept his diploma. She couldn't help but stand up with Hailie to cheer him. She could tell that his parents waited to cheer out too. Seeing, Arnold's gaze hit her she mouthed out that she loves him.
After the ceremony was done with, Arnold, Gerald, and Phoebe rushed up to them. Arnold picked up Hailie in his arms to kiss her on the cheek before settling her back down to kiss, Helga too. "No more college."
Helga felt a bit sad about that. "I know. I loved seeing your face in the library too."
Coming to that realization, Arnold kissed her once more. "I'll hate that too."
"Guess that means you both should marry then." Hailie announced. Watching her mother and Arnold interact, she had a feeling that he would want to be married to her mom.
Would he live in that apartment with them or the boarding house when it comes to that? Arnold kissed Helga's nose. "That all depends on your mom."
Winking at Arnold, Helga took Hailie's hand. "Well he'll just have to propose to me then."
Feeling Gerald's hand on his shoulder, Arnold knew he was in daydream land. "Well if that isn't an invitation then I don't know what else is." Gerald said as he patted his shoulder a bit lighter before going to his girlfriend.
Arnold watched her talking to the others as he daydreamed of her pregnant with their child. He thought of Hailie as that great older sister to her sibling. He thought of her like his daughter even if she truly wasn't. Was it too soon to ask for Helga's hand for marriage?
Rhonda looked at her new place with a slight bit of shock. She went crazy buying furniture and after it was all loaded in there she couldn't quite believe it as she stood basically frozen. Was this really her place? How will she handle a child? She needed a job to make herself feel even better about herself.
"This is all for us." She spoke to her peanut laying in her stomach. "I'm afraid that I'll be a horrible mother."
Hearing a knock at her door, Rhonda just told the person to come in. Thankfully it was, Curly. Curly stepped into her new place to see her just standing there in her own disbelief. Taking an accurrsary examination of her furniture in the modest starter home, he noticed how it was more middle class. More homey.
"I loved what you picked for furniture. This is better than what you grew up with."
Snapping out of her thoughts at that, Rhonda smiled warmly at him. "Want to help me organize the baby's room?"
Nodding his head, Curly followed her to a room further from the entrance. She obviously didn't want street sounds disturbing him or her. Seeing that the crib wasn't assembled, and other things were here and there, Curly walked forward. He knew she didn't have any household tools in there.
"Time to go to the hardware store." He announced. "Since you will be independent, you need some necessities for around the house. Also we can pick out paint." Taking her hand, Curly told her it will be his treat.
Rhonda felt her heart leap up the second he took her hand. "I'd like to learn something new." She spoke with honesty. Since she decided to stay here, she went to a therapist twice a week.
Opening the car door up for her, Curly waited till she was in before going to the other side to get in. "Good. If you have any questions about this stuff it is good to ask or watch that DIY channel. Sometimes they give you helpful hints."
As the weeks went by, Rhonda found herself laughing in his presence more when she spotted him doing something out of the ordinary. She found herself accepting it even more. She also found herself lonely. She asked Helga how was it being a single mother and dating. Helga told her she was lonely for a long time. She did date but nothing panned out after they found out she had a child. Nothing panned out until Arnold. He was everything that she wanted. Rhonda hoped for the same thing. When she asked her about other things, Helga told her that it was always good to have a network of trusted people to help you out when you need it. She had her sister, Phoebe, and Stan. Now she had plenty of more people in case it was needed. Rhonda may have friends, but she was unsure if they really wanted to help out.
"How is Brenda?"
It had been interesting to hear her finally ask about his girlfriend. Each day he found himself falling more for her. Each day he supported her in what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. "She's good. Right now she's in a shelter helping out for a few hours. Later we are heading to the movies."
Brenda is a giving person obviously. Rhonda felt a little jealous there. "The most I did was donate my clothes. Does she do that often?"
"Yep. On Thanksgiving she is there giving her time there to feed the homeless. I'm thinking of helping out this year." Spotting a forlorn appearance on the raven haired beauty, Curly put his hand on hers. "Donating clothes is very noble too, Rhonda."
Hearing her phone go off, Rhonda picked it up to have a brief conversation. Nodding her head several times while answering questions, she hung up with a bit more of a smile on her face. "Helga told me there is a position coming available. She asked me if I could type and I told her I can. She said that I will have to meet up with her early in the morning tomorrow to speak to the Dean personally."
"That was nice of her. You going?"
"Yes. I want to work to feel my worth. I won't get rich off of it, but I just want to feel proud of myself. Helga is right that it will give me some experience." Rhonda was still surprised that Helga kept giving her helpful advice. A person she tried to sabotage on purpose was helping her out.
Curly smiled as they parked the car in front of the hardware store. "Helga is a cool egg." Getting out of the car, he went around to help her out. "I think Arnold is planning on proposing to her soon."
Seeing men checking her out, Rhonda found herself more shy about the attention rather than self-assured. "They deserve one another." Turning to face him, she hugged him. "I'm glad you're happy." Moving away from him she went inside without waiting for someone to open the door. It felt good to do that.
X
As Curly gave her instructions on how to assemble the crib, Rhonda actually was doing the handy work. She got a little frustrated, but little by little she felt some adrenaline sifting into her core. When she put in the last piece, she stood up to wait for him to judge if it was strong or not. When he said it was okay, Rhonda cheered.
"I did it!" Hugging him, Rhonda wanted to kiss him mostly, but settled on this. "Thank you."
Still having feelings for this woman, Curly separated slowly. "You should thank yourself. You did a great job of assembling this. Maybe you can make a fashion line for babies."
She stared at the white crib loving the pureness of it. It had such a simple design that she liked very much. "Perhaps I could. Maybe furniture or something with you as a carpenter."
"Perhaps." Looking at all the paint samples she had, Curly sighed. "We don't know the sex yet so what do you think?"
"Something neutral. If it is a boy we can get some nice decorations for a boy. Same with a girl." Feeling at peace there, Rhonda rested her back against the wall. "My parents use to give me all this attention up until I was ten. After that they said I'm grown up enough to think like an adult. I tried to what I can to get their attention, but I was waved off and told to go shopping."
Curly stood there patiently listening to her as she showed a truly vulnerable side of her.
"When I first got attention from guys it made me feel good, but not good enough to be with any of them. It was this brief ego boost that I needed. When I got older I got bored with just the simple attention." Closing her eyes, Rhonda felt shame. "I was fourteen when I gave myself to this guy who was older than me. A sophomore in High School. I enjoyed that attention, but didn't want him around me again. It felt good to me to collect and do that over and over again, but at the same time I felt tired." Opening her eyes to focus on him, Rhonda wanted to hit herself. "I didn't know the true feeling I was going through until recently. Until you. I felt worthless. As much as I brag about my family name, it is just to brag about the name. I never really grouped myself in it."
"What about those rumors and pranks you did in school?"
"Ego boost. It is still not an excuse for the horrible things that I've done. Curly I lost you because of my stupid mistake. I'm not even worth it. I'm not worth your love and Brenda is." Sliding to the ground, she focused on her feet. "She's lucky."
Getting on his knees in front of her, Curly rested his hand on her knee. "You are worth it or I wouldn't be here. I see improvements in you and I like it. I do love you still. I saw past your bull." Seeing hope in her eyes, Curly had to prevent her from flirting with him. "I will be here for our baby. I will also be around for Brenda. I'm your friend, Rhonda. Trust in yourself that with all that you are doing right now will help you out."
Rhonda appreciated his words. He really is a true friend. She actually had some.
Gerald took Phoebe's hand to walk her near the edge so they can enjoy the scenery. Smiling all the while, he laid out a blanket as they both laid down to enjoy the night sky. Taking her hand once more, Gerald just enjoyed the setting with his favorite girl.
"Beautiful night, eh?"
Phoebe felt so steady right now. So at ease. "I most agree with you there, Gerald. The weather is superb. No need for a coat or anything of the like." Face turning red she apologized for talking so much.
"No need to apologize. I enjoy hearing you talk." He told her honestly.
Just as the night gave an excuse for a perfect evening, Phoebe felt qualms. "Gerald, how will this work? As a doctor I will be working many long hours. I hear of so many getting into relationships and it dying out."
"It'll work."
"But how?"
Turning on his side to kiss her, Gerald then had her full attention. "We will make it work. I know there will be long hours. I knew this and I'm not running away. I know I can make it work."
"But how?"
Full of confidence and full of something very always going crazy around her, Gerald played with her hair. "Because I love you, Phoebe. I want this to work because I don't want to lose you. Ask Arnold. When I make my mind about something I go all out."
Phoebe froze. "Did you just say you l-l-love me?" She stuttered.
"Yes. Did you hear me hesitate?"
Launching herself at him, Phoebe kissed him. She was sure he was a good guy. A guy that won't let her down. "I love you too, Gerald Johannsen." She declared before kissing him again.
Chuckling softly at her exuberance, Gerald felt his heart soaring among those stars right now. Just then a shooting star came past prompting him to wish upon it. He wished for this girl to remain in his life for a very long time.