Chapter Four

Daphne couldn't believe she was in the situation of being pregnant and having to give up her baby. She could understand other teenage mothers wanting to do it, but she wasn't one of them. Weeks later, Daphne was taken to meet the family by Mrs Blake, who would raise her child: The Ballards. Their names were Michael and Katherine. They were in their late twenties. Michael had light brown hair, Katherine had dark brown hair, and she was also in her late twenties. They were charming people, and Daphne did her best not to appear resentful. Michael's father, Robert, was also there. He was in his forties.

"We can't begin to tell you how grateful we are for allowing us to raise your child," Michael said. "Katherine and I have been trying for so long, but it proved to be no use. We can't have children,"

"We really wish we knew how to thank you properly," Katherine said.

Daphne wanted to express herself however she wanted, but that would be impossible with her mother sitting beside her.

"Please just give my child a good life," Daphne said. "That's all I ask,"

"We'll give your child the best life," Katherine said. "We promise,"

Daphne smiled with gratitude, and Mrs Blake decided to butt in before she could express herself.

"I hope the life you give this child will also include discipline," Mrs Blake said. "A life without discipline is just chaos,"

Michael and Katherine thought Mrs Blake was a chilling woman, and they both decided to play along as they didn't want to miss out on gaining custody of Daphne's child.

"Yes, we will discipline the child if he or she does the wrong thing," Michael said.

"I'm glad to hear it," Mrs Blake replied. "I made the mistake of letting some things go when it comes to my daughter here. So, I decided to punish her in the most appropriate way. Her hair used to be longer, but after the way she behaved, I did what I had to do,"

Mrs Blake stroked the back of Daphne's head quickly.

"I feel I made the right decision," Mrs Blake added.

Daphne felt a chill went up her spine when she heard that. Michael, Katherine and Robert also felt a chill. When Daphne walked through their front door, Michael and Katherine expected Daphne to have long hair, not short. Robert cleared his throat.

"So, Daphne, would you like to tell us about yourself?" Robert asked. "Do you have any hobbies?"

Daphne was relieved that Robert decided to change the subject.

"Yeah, I like photography," Daphne said. "I work on the school paper, and I'm also a cheerleader,"

"But not for long," Mrs Blake said sternly. "You'll have to give that up soon,"

Daphne hated that her mother felt she had to control every aspect of her life and that she was powerless to do anything about it.

"I know, Mom," Daphne said apologetically.

"So, what kind of work do you do on the school paper?" Robert asked, hoping to break the tension.

"Oh, she did great work on the school paper," Mrs Blake said before Daphne could speak. "She took amazing photos of the Warden's office at Coolsville Prison. The Warden even called me to congratulate me on having an amazing daughter,"

Robert was disappointed that Daphne didn't get a chance to speak for herself as he was growing to like her.

"Is there anything else you've done with the school paper that you would like to talk about?" Robert asked.

"I did some sports shots of the football team," Daphne replied quickly.

"Indeed, you did, but anyone can take sports photos," Mrs Blake said.

Daphne thought that was the most insulting thing her mother could have said, but she was proven wrong momentarily.

"Before I forget, the Warden also called me about seeing you with Fred in that machine of his," Mrs Blake said. "If it weren't for him, I never would have known what a sinful daughter I have, so you'll need to ensure the child we're giving you won't grow up sinful,"

"We promise we won't," Katherine said, trying to hide the desperation in her voice.

"Definitely not," Michael added, trying to hide his desperation.

Robert looked at Daphne and couldn't believe the life she had to live with being raised by Mrs Blake. Daphne looked back at Robert, and she appreciated that he was a caring man and hoped he could be just as caring for her child.

XXXXX

After school a few days later, Daphne was furious about her life. She and Fred were walking and holding hands, and Daphne was confused by the situation.

"Fred, what's going on?" Daphne asked. "Why are we walking to your Dad's business for? Why didn't you drive us there?"

"I can't do that today, but I do have a surprise for you," Fred said.

On the one hand, Daphne didn't have the best thing; the last thing she wanted was a surprise. But on the other hand, she didn't want to let him down as he seemed so earnest in surprising her.

"What kind of surprise are you talking about?" Daphne asked curiously.

"An unspoken fuck you to your mother for being such a bitch to us," Fred replied.

That was the last thing she expected her boyfriend to say.

"An unspoken fuck you?" Daphne asked, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means we could say fuck you to your mother, but that wouldn't change anything," Fred explained. "So, based on the fact that your mother said it's no mystery what we do in that machine of mine, I thought I would do something about it,"

On one hand, Daphne was scared by what Fred had just told her. But on the other hand, Daphne was excited by the idea of saying fuck you in an unspoken way. It didn't take them long to reach the parking lot of Fred's father's business.

"That's my van there under the tarp," Fred said.

They practically ran to the van, and Fred unveiled it to reveal it had been painted with light green and aquamarine paint, some flowers on the doors and walls, and most importantly, the words "The Mystery Machine" painted orange on both sides. They didn't know when they were going to reveal the van to Mrs Blake, but it felt great that this unspoken fuck you existed.

"So, what do you think?" Fred asked.

Daphne replied by wrapping her arms around Fred and kissing him passionately. They knew their lives were far from perfect, but at that moment, they felt good; they had each other to deal with whatever life would throw at them next.

XXXXX

As her mother was a religious fanatic, Daphne hated that her mother made her attend church on Sundays, but that morning was incredibly unique. Daphne was ten weeks pregnant, and her mother had something specific about it as they got out of the car and began walking to the entrance.

"This is going to be your last visit for a long time as you're getting very close to showing," Mrs Blake warned. "So, you better be on your best behavior,"

"Y-Y-Yes, Mommy," Daphne said, trying to sound respectful.

Mrs Blake knew Daphne was scared, and under any other circumstances, she would love being called Mommy, but not that day.

"Call me Mom, not Mommy," Mrs Blake said. "Is that understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes, Mom," Daphne said.

Mrs Blake smiled as she loved how scared Daphne was and was under her thumb.

"Good," Mrs Blake said. "Now let's go inside,"

They walked inside the church quickly. Once inside, Mrs Blake walked up to the priest while Daphne kept herself distant from the other churchgoers. However, one churchgoer wouldn't keep himself away from her: The Warden of Coolsville Prison. As Daphne saw him approaching her, she wanted to run but was too scared to move. There was something about him that frightened her.

"Hello, Daphne," the Warden said. "It's nice to see you again,"

Daphne forced a smile to her face.

"Thank you," she said politely.

"What happened to your hair?" the Warden asked back.

Her hair was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

"I decided to get it changed a little, and I thought I would try short hair for a while," Daphne lied.

"Well, it's a shame it's short, but you're still a beautiful young woman," the Warden said.

With that said, Daphne decided to let him have it. She hated her hair being short, and she felt the Warden was partly to blame.

"You know what?" Daphne asked. "I heard that you called my mother on Fred and me. Why? I'm not your daughter, and what I do with my boyfriend is my business, not yours,"

The Warden didn't like being spoken to like that, especially by Daphne.

"You're very young, and I think what you did was inappropriate," the Warden said.

"I'm seventeen years old, and I think that makes me old enough to do what I want to do with Fred," Daphne said. "So, where do you get the nerve to rat me out to my mother? Fred and I aren't hurting anyone. We're in love,"

The Warden wanted to scream, but given that he was at church, he knew it would be best to refrain.

"Seventeen is too young for the kind of activity you and your boyfriend get up to," the Warden said. "And you should be careful about how to talk to people. One wrong word and your life could be ruined,"

As the Warden walked away, Daphne was shaking, and she couldn't believe how crazy he was. To her relief, the Warden didn't approach her mother, and she hoped the rest of her last visit to church wouldn't go badly.

2015

The months went by quickly, and Daphne was nearly eight months pregnant. The yearbook photos were being taken, and Daphne hated that she wasn't in charge of the photography. Instead, it was some man in his mid-twenties who was also arrogant. Her regular photo was taken, but her photo for the fashion club was about to be taken, and she was nervous about it. The man looked at Daphne and immediately judged her for how pregnant she was. Daphne could see this in the man's eyes and did her best to ignore it.

"Excuse me, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" Daphne asked politely.

"What do you want?" the Photographer asked back impatiently.

His tone of voice was the last thing Daphne needed, and she did her best to ignore it.

"When it comes to taking my photo here, could you please not show my stomach?" Daphne asked. "As you can see, I'm seriously pregnant, and I don't want my photo taken like that,"

The Photographer hated it when people thought they could tell him how to take photos, especially pregnant teenagers who believed the world owed them a favor.

"Yeah, sure," the Photographer said. "Now, could you please stand in front of the dresses?"

"Sure," Daphne replied.

The Photographer got his camera ready and took Daphne's picture. He did it quickly because he just wanted to finish his work day. Daphne hoped the fact that she was pregnant wouldn't make it into the picture.

XXXXX

As Daphne's school year was approaching its conclusion, the Warden kept an eye on her from afar. He got the issue of the school paper and now had the Coolsville High School yearbook for 2015. As he thumbed through it in his office, he loved the regular yearbook photo of Daphne. He thought she looked beautiful. Then he thumbed through the yearbook some more and got the shock of his life. A picture of Daphne in the Fashion Club section and seeing a photo of Daphne nearly eight months pregnant.

"Oh, my God!" he said, shocked and hurt.

He had no idea that Daphne was pregnant, and he couldn't believe the father was likely her boyfriend, Fred Jones.

"You shouldn't be pregnant, Daphne," the Warden said to himself. "You shouldn't be,"

As the Warden continued to look at the photo, he wondered just what kind of a girl Daphne was and what he could do to improve her life as he was in love with her, and Fred had no business being part of her life.