A Lot of Potential

Alex's POV:

With summer coming closer, I think it was time I needed to tell my parents about how I proposed to Haley and we were getting married this summer on her father's account. Haley was being stubborn like usual, forcing me to do it myself. I sat in the living room, waiting for my parents to walk in at any timing now. They've been gone all weekend with their friends like usual.

My dad pushed open the door, walking inside the house first, my mom following. "Alex, sweetheart, how was your weekend?" she smiled, throwing her purse and bags by the staircase.

"It's been okay." I shrugged, waiting for them both to set down with me.

"Well I'm going upstairs to lay down." my father said, walking up the staircase.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Mom, I need to talk to you and Dad, please." I sighed, standing up.

"Come upstairs, please." she said, striding up the stairs. I followed behind her, walking into their bedroom. She laid down on the bed next to my father, patting the edge of the bed for me to sit on. "Peter, Alex needs to talk to us about something."

"What is it son?"

I took a deep breath, trying to word my sentences together first. "I have a lot of news."

"That is?" my mom asked, setting up to look at me.

"Graduation is soon!" I pussied out, shaking my head. "Not what I need to say."

"Son, get on with it." my dad rolled his eyes.

"Mom, Dad, I proposed to Haley." I calmly said, feeling a ton of weight being lifted off my shoulders.

They looked at me with total shock. "I'm so proud of you!" my mother smiled, engulfing me into a hug.

"Thanks." I nodded. "And there's more."

"What's that?"

"We want to get married this summer. June hopefully."

"Isn't Haley just a junior?" my dad asked, shooting me a worried glance.

"Why so soon, Alex?" my mother also asked.

"Yeah, Haley's just a junior. And I have my reasoning. A lot more weight got added to my shoulders after I proposed to her. I was going to wait after she graduated, but some things came up."

"What things?" my mom raised a eyebrow, trying her best to process all the information I was giving her.

"Because, when I went to Vegas with Haley for that small amount of time, I had a talk with her dad. He told me he had Leukemia.." I paused, watching their reactions. "He doesn't think he's going to be around to see Haley graduate. But I told him I proposed to her and I promised him he'd get to see her get married instead."

"Alexander, I'm proud of you." my dad said, inhaling deeply. "You're doing something good."

"How does Haley feel about it all?"

"Thanks Dad, and Mom- Haley doesn't know about her dad having Leukemia. I was asked to keep it from her because he didn't want her to be worrying about him." I sighed, feeling my stomach knot up. "I want to tell her, but I can't."

"You have to keep your promises to her dad." my mom bit her lip. "Well, we have a wedding to plan then!"

"Yeah, I suppose we do." I said, twisting my frown into a smile.

"I think you should hold the wedding at your grandmother's house, in her backyard! Your father and I married there."

"All Gaskarths have." my dad laughed.

"Okay." I nodded.

"I also say you both marry June twenty-fourth." my mother excitedly said, looking at the calender.

"Slow down, Mom." I laughed. "I gotta ask Haley if it's okay with her. We'll start planning all this whenever she's around." I smiled, feeling my phone buzz in the pocket of my basketball shorts. I pulled it out, reading the contact.

From Haley: Come over..

My breathing stopped, getting a unsure feeling about the text. "Alex, is everything fine?" my mom asked with a worried expression on her face.

"Yeah, I hope." I said, standing up. "Haley wants me to come over so i'll be back soon."

"Okay." they nodded. I walked into my room, slipping on a pair of flip flops. I quickly walked out of the house and down the street to her house. I pushed the door open, letting myself in. No one was in the living room so I pushed myself up the stairs. I walked to her bedroom to find her setting curled up in a blanket, laying on her bed.

"Hey." I whispered, setting down next to her.

"Hi." she said, pushing herself up. "Alex, I'm so scared right now." she sighed, throwing her arms around my shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

"My dad was having joint pains, then like a few minutes later after discovering that, Ella's water broke. She's not all the way there yet! She still has another two months."

"Oh shit." I managed to say. "Hopefully things will be alright."

"I hope so too. My dad said he thinks he has arthritis, then Ella is screaming that her water broke. I'm like freaking out right now."

"Love, don't worry."

"What if the baby doesn't make it? They're going to be crushed.." she sighed, leaning her head on my chest.

"I know." I frowned, thinking about how much pain her dad would be in. "It'll be alright baby." I said, trying to get her to calm down. I wrapped my arms around her, laying down and began to hum her a soft lullaby. Her eyelids grew heavy, finally giving out on her. "I love you." I whispered, falling asleep myself.