Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Trent!” I scream, hoping he’ll answer, only to be met with silence. “Trent!” I yell again, now in full-on freak-out mode. Jordan picks up on my stress, and her cries morph into panicked sobs.
Despite the window being open, allowing Jordan and me to slightly catch our breaths, the smoke is too strong, and it’s causing me to become lightheaded. With her in my arms, I think about what I was taught in school. Stop, drop, and roll sure as hell isn’t going to work in this situation. I try to approach the hall again to see if I can somehow maneuver us down the steps, but the flames are too high and hot.
This is the only room up here. There’s a bathroom, but it doesn’t have a window. It’s a small two-bedroom, two-bath townhome Trent rented for us that’s close to the college he’s attending. His parents are helping pay for it as long as he stays in school.
“Oh, God,” I cry, the reality of the situation hitting me. We’re trapped, and unless a miracle occurs, this is where we’re going to die. As I slide down the wall, holding my daughter as tightly as humanly possible, my thoughts go back to the day I found out I was pregnant with her.
“How could you do this?” my mom hissed. “You have your whole life ahead of you.”
“We didn’t mean for it to happen,” I choke out. “We used protection but—”
“This is why I told you to wait until marriage. Now you’ll have to get an abortion, something no woman wants to live with.”
Wait, what? “No.” I shake my head. This baby might have been an accident, but I’m not getting rid of him or her. It’s my choice to make, and I’m choosing to have my baby. “Trent and I talked about it, and he said it’s up to me. Sure, it’ll be hard, but we’ll get through it together.”
“Kelsie,” Mom says, her voice devoid of all emotion. “Getting pregnant at eighteen and having a baby out of wedlock is an embarrassment to this family. What will everyone think? Do Trent’s parents know?”
Seriously? Her biggest concern is what her country club friends will think?
“He’s telling them right now.”
“Your mother and I will not support this,” Dad says. “If you go through with having this baby, you’ll be cut off. No college, no trust fund. You will no longer be a part of this family.”
“But…” I stare at my parents. They’ve always been on the conservative side, refusing to allow me to get on birth control because doing so would mean they condone premarital sex. So, I’m shocked they’re not only okay with me having an abortion, but they’re insisting on it. I knew they’d be upset, but I thought they’d suggest Trent and I get married… “It would mean killing my baby.”
“If it’s between you having this baby or having a future, we choose you,” Mom says. “Your future.”
“Well, I’m choosing my baby,” I reply, holding my head up high.
“Then, consider yourself on your own,” Dad says. “You’ve already graduated high school, and you’re eighteen. If you insist on embarrassing this family, then you’re no longer part of it.”
“Are you kicking me out?” I gasp.
“I will not watch you ruin your life,” Mom says. “You want to destroy your entire future? You will not do it under our roof.”
When I ran to Trent, telling him what they said, he pulled me into his arms and told me, “We’ve got this, Kelsie. It won’t be easy, but we’ll do it together.”
A month later, Trent and I moved into this home. His parents were just as mad as mine, but they said they’d still pay for his college. They refused to pay for daycare, or anything baby related, saying if we were adult enough to make a baby, we were adult enough to care for our baby. So I deferred college and stayed home with our daughter.
As much as I want to say I wish I were in school, the truth is I love spending my days with my precious baby girl. I was always told college was the next step. Before I got pregnant, I was fully prepared to go, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t go at all. I love being a mom and taking care of my daughter, and I’d be okay with being a stay-at-home mom for the next several years.
Sure, many days are hard, with Trent working and going to school and interning at the architecture firm. We’re only twenty-one, but most days it feels as though we’re an old married couple. Once Trent graduates and has a stable job, things will get easier, and we’ll be able to focus more on each other and our future.