Five weeks passed and Austin still hadn't given Ally a time that they could both go and discuss this huge development with his parents. She was becoming annoyed but tried to remember that she was more hormonal than normal and that Austin had a lot to deal with.
He was there for her but he just avoided the subject of telling his family when she tried to talk to him about it. It was beginning to create problems between them. Ally was now fifteen weeks and her tiny frame was not hiding the pregnancy from view anymore. She could play it off as a big meal in the right outfit but even that trick wouldn't last much longer.
As such, she and Austin had made every effort to avoid his house and parents but since they knew the two kids were dating they expected to see Ally around on a regular basis. Time was running out to keep their litte secret and if Austin didn't tell them himself soon his parents were going to find out some other way.
After all, they were local business owners who had customers well aware of Ally's condition and any day they could let it slip in casual conversation. To Ally, that would be much worse than them finding out from the source but the way Austin was acting made her think maybe he saw that as a good easier option.
She knew when she came up with the idea that she shouldn't do it but she was becoming desperate. She made plans to show up at Austin's door that night when she knew his entire family would be home. She would dress just well enough to hide her belly from first glance but not so well that she couldn't reveal herself should it become necessary.
Austin was going to have to face this and come clean to his parents about everything that was going on. She had her reasons as to why it should happen now. She and Austin were set to have an ultrasound next week to check the baby's gender and she really wanted the important people in both their lives to know about the baby before then. It was time.
As she was planning what she would say or do after showing up unannounced at Austin's front door she realized there was one more important person she hadn't shared this news with. Her mother was not in regular contact with the family because of the nature of her job and Ally had been so busy worrying about Austin's parents and their reactions.
Still, she felt it would be hypocritical to insist Austin tell without having told both her parents. She pulled out her laptop and booted up video chat. As luck would have it, her mother's screen name appeared lit up so she clicked dial and waited while the connection was attempted.
It was only then that the magnitude of what she was doing hit her and she realized she was in fact very nervous to tell her mother that she was pregnant at only fifteen. After a few seconds, her mother's face filled the screen and Ally was glad only her own face was visible as she was fidgeting wildly.
"Hey honey. I haven't heard from you in a while and it is unusual for you to call me at this time of day so what's up? Is something wrong?," her mother greeted maintaining a smile.
"Uh…yeah um…hey mom…", Ally began trying to keep her tone even, "I…uh…wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a few minutes?" Looking behind her and clearly addressing someone else, her mother seemed to be assessing her situation to accurately decide whether or not she did in fact have a few minutes to talk.
To Ally's dismay, her mother turned back to the camera and sighed. "Um listen Ally, can I call you back tomorrow? It's just that we are finishing up an evaluation on some animals and I want to be able to give you my full attention."
Ally knew that was fair but she still felt her stomach churn a little at knowing she had to wonder how the conversation was going to go for the next twenty-four hours.
"Yeah…that will work," she claimed forcing a smile and feeling like she might be sick for the first time today, "I'll talk to you then. Bye mom." The connection ended and Ally closed her laptop. She would wait until she shared her news with her mother before going hunting down Austin's parents. After all, she thought, it was only one day so what difference could it possibly make.
Austin came by the music store later that day as Ally was prepping to head home. He was in the middle of recording his second album and wasn't around as much as either of them would have liked. Even though she was annoyed with him for wanting to keep secrets from his parents, she was glad to see him and melted into his embrace immediately.
"Hey," she breathed smiling at him once they pulled away from one another. He reached in and gave her a peck on the lips before responding back with a hey of his own.
He had his normal goofy carefree grin and at least at that moment it appeared he had few cares in the world. She envied his ability to feel so relaxed despite all that they were up against and she had no idea how he could feel so at ease when he still had to unload a teenage pregnancy on his unsuspecting parents.
"So…I was wondering if we could talk about telling your parents," Ally led in not wanting to beat around the bush. His smile immediately faded and she saw a second of anger before he softened his expression to a mixture of sadness and annoyance.
"Man, why do you always want to talk about this. I mean it seems like it is all you ever do and I just…I just hate talking to you now," he retorted without thinking about what his words meant. The look on Ally's face made him immediately regret his choice of words and he started to back track though he had already dug himself into a hole.
"Wait…that's not what I-" he tried before Ally was able to snap back. Now her tone was pure anger and she had hot tears forming in her eyes.
"No! I think that is exactly what you meant. You try to avoid this subject every time Austin and I am sick of it. This isn't going to go away and I am tired of having to hide and sneak around. I'm showing now and the ultrasound is next week! You have to stop stalling and tell you parents. Either grow up and tell them or get out of my life!," she shouted. In a matter of seconds they had both said things they didn't mean and tensions had erupted into a full blown fight.
Austin looked at her in shock and she wasn't sure what to do or say next but she could only watch as the emotions played across his face. She knew it was bad when he settled on anger and she couldn't force herself into action.
All she did was stand there, tears rolling down her cheeks and anger still boiling in her chest, as he jumped down from the counter he'd placed himself on and furiously walked out the door without saying a word. The door would have slammed had it not been for the pressurized closure but the lack of loud clap didn't take away the effect of what had just happened.
Ally felt her anger subside slightly and let the realization of what she had just done hit her. She knew she may have very well just destroyed everything and the thought made her overcome the anger and focus on the fear of what was going to happen next.
Ally sat motionless in the middle of the floor of Sonic Boom for over an hour crying her eyes out. She felt as though she never wanted to move again but she knew eventually she had to go home.
Even so, she hadn't willed herself to move when Trish came running through the front door calling her name. Trish stopped abruptly when she saw the mess that was her best friend sitting on her knees in the floor with tear stained cheeks.
"Oh my gosh Ally, are you okay? What's wrong?" Trish asked coming over to Ally and pulling her to her feet. Ally came begrudgingly and followed Trish to the bench so she could explain everything that had happened. Unlike last time, Ally managed to get her entire story out without collapsing into an emotional mess. She knew she wasn't completely at fault for everything that had gone down but she was partially responsible and wanted to work on fixing it.
Trish listened intently and comforted Ally saying that everything would work out. Austin would come back around and he was probably just avoiding it because he knew his mom and dad wouldn't be so accepting like Lester had been. Ally knew Trish was right and that she shouldn't have kept pushing him and she also told Trish that tomorrow she was going to tell her mother over video conference.
"Oh wow, I figured you would wait to tell her in person and that was why you hadn't mentioned it." Trish exclaimed.
"Well, actually I just hadn't thought about it with everything else going on and she isn't scheduled to be back in town for another four months. I would rather tell her before I am that far along. I think I owe her that you know?"Ally informed.
"That makes sense…so what are you gonna do about Austin?" Trish inquired getting softer.
Ally looked down at her bump and placed a hand over it protectively. "I don't really know. I have so much on my plate already and school is starting back soon so it is only about to get worse. I'm just gonna give him some time to cool off and I guess we will see." She sighed.
It wasn't what she wanted but she didn't know what else to do at this point that wouldn't make things worse. Austin was only sixteen and even though she thought he loved her she didn't know if he could handle this. She didn't even know if she could handle it but she was going to find out.