Sixteen (6 page)

Claire smiled. "Wow."

Nicole looked out the window and smiled faintly, still caught up in her emotional memories. "Yeah. Wow." It was almost a whisper. Then she turned back to her daughter and the present day. "I had never imagined such a reunion. We'd lived in the same house as practical strangers. It almost seemed too good to be true. But I still had to tell Matt."

Sometime during the
emotional scene in the kitchen, Christy had slipped upstairs. After her parents' congratulations on her spiritual news and a discussion of Nikki attending church with them the next day, she joined her friend in her bedroom. Christy lay on the bed.

"You okay?"

Nikki nodded. "Thank you so much. I could never have done that without you."

Christy smiled. "I know. Now, about Matt."

Nikki groaned and flopped on the bed. Nikki appreciated Christy’s not mentioning the scene that just played out in the kitchen. However, she wasn't ready to plan another such event just yet. "Can't we do this one day at a time? Don't I get a break? Seriously!"

After a short argument, Christy and Nikki came to a truce. They painted nails and watched a movie. Nikki wanted to eat popcorn and chocolate, but Christy insisted she shouldn't eat anything until she had checked what was safe. Eleven-thirty rolled around, and the Johnson parents were long since asleep. Christy announced it was time to discuss Matt.

"The phone's too informal. This is something you have to tell him face-to-face."

"Then why are we talking about it now? I can't just show up on his doorstep at eleven at night -- especially considering the last time I talked to him." Nikki shuddered at the thought. How much time would have to pass for the memories -- and the shame -- to fade? Would that night ever truly leave her alone, especially with a baby now on the way to forever remind her?

Christy didn’t notice Nikki’s involuntary shiver -- or she ignored it. "No, but you're going to church tomorrow. Afterwards, my family is going to lunch. You’ll come too. Then you and I will be dropped off at Matt's and you are going to tell him everything."

Nikki rolled her eyes. "And when did
we
decide all this?" Christy made a great friend, but she seemed a little too practiced at playing the part of bossy older sister.

"You didn't. I did. Mom will understand, so we don't have to clear the plans right now. And we're going to need our sleep, as does your little baby, so it's lights-out!"

Nikki reluctantly changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, grumbling the entire time. Why did she have to consider the baby now? It’s not like she’d been behaving… pregnant… earlier, before she knew for certain. Besides, the baby was barely a month along. Surely one more late night couldn’t hurt. And shouldn’t she be in charge of her own choices? Especially if she’d have to start making choices for a kid, too. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror for several minutes, turning this thought over. She was going to be a
mom
. Of a living, breathing, crying, eating, flesh-and-blood child.

Christy prepared for bed as well, still being annoyingly chipper. She insisted on sleeping on the floor with Nikki on the bed, despite Nikki’s protests that they’d always shared the mound of blankets and pillows across the floor during sleepovers. Why couldn’t anything be like it was before?

“For the baby's sake,” Christy told the mother-to-be. They did end up sleeping where Christy decided, and Nikki slept like a rock until her mother woke them up at eight. They rushed to shower and get ready; then Christy walked to her house, and each family drove to church.

Nikki actually enjoyed Sunday school, and everybody was friendlier and accepting of the new girl than she’d expected. She paid attention to the message, and the pastor introduced himself to her after the service. Christy's family piled back into the car; they ate lunch at a local restaurant. Christy's mother helped Nikki discreetly choose a pregnancy-friendly meal. After they finished and paid the bill, Christy’s parents dropped Nikki and Christy off at Matt's house.

Her heart beating wildly, Nikki wiped her sticky hands on her light green spring-style dress -- the only outfit she owned that felt proper for church. The butterfly troupe in her stomach woke up the minute she rang the doorbell. Christy stood behind her.

Matt's brother opened the door, and greeted them with a friendly smile. However, a question hid in his eyes. "Nikki! It's been a while. Who's your friend?"

She smiled nervously. "This- this is Christy. Um, is Matt here?"

Unfortunately, he nodded. "He's out back, on the porch. You can just go on around if you want."

Nikki nodded, and slowly headed for the person she dreaded seeing. Christy stood too close to make a break for it, so she took a deep breath and turned the corner.

Matt lounged in a patio chair, probably enjoying the sunshine. Nikki stared at the patio tile. Christy cleared her throat, and Matt jerked around. When he saw Nikki, he jumped out of his chair and approached her. When she stepped back, he halted.

"Nikki! What- how... hey, are you okay?"

She tried to slow her breathing to something resembling a normal pace, but failed. "Um. Hi."

"Hi. Do you- here, sit down." He motioned to the chair and pulled it out for her.

She shook her head without looking up. "I'd rather not. I... I have to talk to you."

"Is everything alright?" Worry clouded his features.

"Actually... no. You see..." For the first time since she'd arrived, she looked at Matt, face to face. That was all it took to open the floodgates. She buried her face in her hands as tears began to flow.

Concern flashed over Matt's features, and he pulled the chair out further. Christy led Nikki to the seat, patting her back and whispering soothing words to her. Matt stood off to the side, not sure what to do. After a few minutes, Nikki's sobs quieted to hiccups, and she did her best to tell him what she had to tell.

"I... I came to tell you that... that I'm.... p-pregnant." She hiccupped again and fiddled with her bracelet.

Matt fell back into the other patio chair, his face losing color. After a minute, he asked, "Are you sure? I mean, I’m not questioning that it’s… um, mine -- but, well, how do you know? That you’re really… pregnant?"

"I took a test." The words were barely a mumble.

"A home test?" He paused, scratched the back of his neck, popped his knuckles. “Shouldn’t you make sure at the doctor’s or something? I mean, I’ve heard those things can be inacc-”

Christy interrupted. "Matt, I know you're just trying to help, but you aren't helping. She's sure. A girl knows about these things."

He nodded, looking somewhat sheepish. Nikki's fingers froze on her bracelet, her entire body rigid. She didn't make a sound; she simply stared at the tiles.

"So... what are you gonna do?"

She continued to stare at the floor. Finally, she shrugged, but she still didn't look up or speak.

He nodded, seeming relieved that life had returned to her form. "You don't have to decide what to do right now. The... baby's not due until, what... March? April?"

Nikki nodded. "Early April." Christy gave Nikki's shoulder a supportive squeeze.

"So..." He appeared at a loss for words.

"Um..." She glanced at Christy, who nodded. During the car ride, Nikki asked Christy what she should do now, as a pregnant teen and new Christian all at once. Christy’s advice was to start with tell Matt about her salvation, since Matt claimed to be a Christian. She turned to look at him as she spoke, fighting the urge to return to her bracelet-fiddling. "You should probably know something else... I got saved yesterday, and... and I went to church this morning, and I want to do the right thing, but I'm not sure what that is.”

Matt sighed. Was he upset? "I told you I'm a Christian, right?"

Nikki nodded. She couldn’t quite remember when he told her, but she did know he went to church. Something like that.

"Well, that's true, but sadly so. You see, I was saved when I was nine years old. Back when my mom died, I quit going to church. I was nineteen. Lately, Dad's been on my case about going to church with him. He seems to get more and more concerned about us kids the worse his health gets. I just wasn't ready until after... July. I've been attending regularly now, and I'm getting back into my Bible."

Christy chanced another comment. "Seems like God's been on all our cases lately."

Nikki forced a laugh and turned her eyes down to her lap. "Yeah."

They sat in the awkward silence that followed, until Matt spoke. "Do you have any idea about whether you want to keep the baby or put it up for adoption?"

"I've thought about it. I've had an idea of what’s... happening for a few weeks now. I keep seeing this little baby in my arms, all wrapped up and happy, and I... well, I don't know what the right thing to do is, but I don't think I could give him or her up when the time came." She looked up to gauge his reaction.

Matt nodded. Nikki couldn’t read his face -- did he agree with her decision? Once again, silence fell over them. Nikki glanced back over at Christy, who gave her another shoulder squeeze.

After a few more minutes, Matt asked again, "So you want to keep the baby?"

Nikki paused, then nodded. "I thought I didn't know, but I guess I kinda knew all along. I just have to keep him."

Matt smiled. "Since you're going to keep the baby, I think he or she should know his father.” A pause. “I'd like to be a part of his life."

Nikki grinned in relief. So he supported her choice. He wanted to be part of it. That was a good sign. "Definitely. He should have both a mother and a father -- you and me."

He paused before blurting, "Then, if you're okay with it... why don't we get married?" At her shocked reaction, he added, "I think there's some papers your parents can sign for an underage marriage. This way our child would have proper parents, and there wouldn't be any problems, like the issues divorced couples or single parents have." He paused and cleared his throat. What a bizarre conversation for them to be having. “It may seem like an odd time to say so, Nikki, but… this feels right.”

Her eyebrows knit together, but he rushed to finish before she could speak.

“I know this isn’t exactly a desirable situation, but Nikki… in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I love you.” That dazzling grin spread over his face, and he knelt down on both knees, taking her hands in his. “I really do. And if you and I both want to do right by this baby, and if you love me back -- which I really believe you do -- well, it seems crazy
not
to get married!”

Nikki stared at Matt. A man -- no,
her
man, with his amazing smile and sparkling green eyes and the power to bring up butterflies just by looking at her -- her man loved her. Even after they screwed up, he wanted to marry her. Matt wanted to marry her! This baby growing in her right now… it could be theirs, forever. She could have a real, live family -- and someone to support her and help raise their child. Without a moment’s hesitation, through a tear-stained smile, she made her decision. "I love you too, Matt. And I think this just might work."

Claire interrupted. "How
did you get Grandma to sign?"

Nicole laughed. "It wasn't easy. It took a month, but we found the papers and information we needed. I convinced Dad, he convinced Mom, and they finally signed. I retired from my position as the junior ballet teacher at the community center. Matt and I started dating again, in an attempt to make our marriage work from the start. We went to a marriage class and had special meetings with the pastor. We joined my parents' and Christy's church, which apparently was also Matt's family's church.” She laughed again. “Of course, for such a small town, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Our wedding was small, with just Matt's, Christy's, and my immediate family there."