Blooming

“Lucy! Phone!”

I watched as my best friend’s eyes lit up.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked me, hopefully. I smiled and motioned for her answer. Together, we ran downstairs faster than lightening. Once there, she ripped the phone out her mother’s hands.

“Hello?” she said in flirtatious tone. I laughed and made kissing noises until she went into the other room.

Lucy had been talking to a guy from school, Craig. Craig was Mr. Perfect. He played football, golf, was on the scholastic bowl team, student council, and was pretty much one of the most popular guys in school. We were thrilled.

“She’s got it bad, doesn’t she?” laughed Mrs. Palmers.

I nodded with a smile until I felt surge of pain in stomach. I covered my mouth with my hand, aware of what might happen if I didn’t.

“Uh oh,” Mrs. Palmers said. “I know that face.”

She ran over to the cupboard and pulled out some crackers and ginger ale. Then, she sat both on the table and motioned for me to sit down. I stumbled over to the table, set in the middle of the Palmers’ kitchen, and sat down. Mrs. Palmers placed a garbage can at my feet.

“Better?” she asked. I nodded.

“Thanks.” I said. Lucy’s parents were much calmer with my pregnancy than my own parents were. They understood what I was going through and that I couldn’t take it back. Short term sacrifices for long term goals, Mrs. Palmers had told me. And I needed that advice now more than ever.

“No problem.” she answered with a pleasant smile upon her face.

There was silence for while as we listened in on Lucy’s conversation in the other room. From the way it sounded, they were talking about Craig’s golf meet. Lucy was laughing hysterically.

“She’s so happy.”

Lucy’s mom nodded.

“She is. Seems like she really likes him,” she said.

“She does.” I said truthfully.

“You know, Savannah, maybe you should get out there in the dating world.”

I nearly choked on my saltine.

“Yeah. Right. Because being pregnant when you’re sixteen is such an attractive quality.” I scoffed.

She didn’t find this funny.

“I’m serious, Savannah. This is high school. Date. Have fun.” she said matter-of-factly.

“Mrs. P?” I pointed at my stomach. Although I wasn’t really showing yet, the evidence was still there.

She looked at me with caring eyes.

“You can’t judge yourself specifically by your pregnancy, Savannah. Yes, this baby is your responsibility. You’ll have to feed it, bathe it, provide for it, care for it, and most importantly, love it. But make some time for you too. You can’t take care of the people you love without taking care of yourself first. There’s still time for dating. It won’t be easy, but there’s somebody out there for everybody. Don’t let what happened to you keep you from living a normal life. Sure, it’ll be different, but who says it has to be bad? You’ll be wonderful mother.”

As usual, tears overwhelmed me. But I managed to push them back long enough to speak.

“You’re right.” was all I could say. I still had my doubts, but overall, I knew that what she said was true.

“Have you told Darren yet?”

I nodded and proceeded to tell her about what had happened that faithful day in the gym.

Her face stayed calm, peaceful almost.

“Do you know if he’s going to....uh....” Now she seemed awkward.

She wanted to know if Darren was going to propose to me. This wasn’t a thought that had never crossed my mind. In fact, I thought about it most of the time. I thought of Darren, me, and our little baby, happy as could be. We could both get jobs and handle this like mature adults. But the truth was, we weren’t. I was sixteen and he was seventeen. We were in no condition to raise a child. But how could I do it alone?

“I don’t think so.” I replied, taking a sip of ginger ale. The nausea was beginning to pass.

Mrs. Palmers nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. The smell of it calmed me, a rare occurrence these days.

“I see.” was all she could say.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s all happening to so fast.”

Just then, she laid her hand gently on my stomach. She looked down at it, smiling softly.

“Calm down, Savannah. There’s still time. You’re still blooming.” By this, I had no idea what she meant. But then again, she was always saying things I didn’t understand completely.

Suddenly, Lucy raced into the room.

“He asked me to be his girlfriend!” she squeaked excitedly. And as soon as she did, I was on my feet dancing with her. Mrs. P joined in as well. What a sight we were. The pregnant teenager jumping for joy with her best friend and best friend’s mother. But it seemed like at that moment in time, the world stopped spinning so fast. It was as if God, Himself, decided to slow things down for moment so Lucy and I could enjoy being teenagers.

“I can’t believe this!” I said anxiously after we were done dancing and had retired to her room. I was so truly happy for my friend that it almost seemed like nothing else in the whole world mattered. But I also couldn’t help but think of what her mom had said about me dating again and whether or not Darren would propose.

“I know! I was totally shocked when....”

Just then, my cell phone rang. The caller ID read the words: Riley Patterson.

Lucy and I exchanged a confused look.

“What do you think he wants?” I asked. Lucy shrugged but hit the answer key and put the phone to my ear.

“Only one way to find out.”

“H-hello?” I asked awkwardly, giving Lucy a dirty look.

“Savannah, hey....”