Once Upon a Time

Noah tugs on the tassel of my graduation cap and I smile and take it off. “Sexy, huh?”

He laughs and pulls me close to him. “Definitely.”

He leans in to kiss me but I pull away. “Nuh-uh,” I tell him and he pouts at me. “My mom is right around the corner,” I hiss to him. He keeps pouting and I lean up and kiss his lips lightly. He makes a face at me.

He’s all dressed up and he’s freaking adorable. The hearing is today and I really wish I was going with him to support him, but no, I have to graduate. What’s the point? I mean, who knows what I’m even going to do about college now? Three months to get more pregnant than I already am and then five months to get even more pregnant than that – and by ‘even more pregnant’ that’s just me avoiding the fact that I’m going to swell up like someone’s shoved a friggin’ bowling ball into my stomach. I flinch.

“You look great,” he tells me, grinning now. “I wish I could go see my favorite girlfriend get her diploma.”

“Favorite?” I laugh. “How many do you have?”

“Just a few,” he teases, kissing my forehead. “Nothing to worry about.”

I swat at his arm. “You’re not funny.”

“Baby, I’m fucking hilarious.”

I shake my head. “I’ll let you keep thinking that.”

“You about ready to go?” my mom asks, walking into the living room. I nod at her. I still haven’t told them about the baby, just like I haven’t told anybody. The only person I got the nerve to tell was Erin and she thought it was the most hilarious, greatest thing that could happen.

“I guess I’ve got to go to,” Noah says unenthusiastically.

“Worried?” I ask him.

“Nope. Celeste is crazy. My lawyer says no judge in his right mind would give her custody of Grace.”

I lean up on the tips of my toes to reach his mouth and give him a soft kiss. When I pull away he rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, baby.”

I grin. “I love you, too.”

He kisses me one more time and then pulls away. He says he’s not worried, but he seems tense, so I know that no matter how much he tells himself everything is fine, he loves that little girl so much he can’t help but worry.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I tell him. “Go kick some court ass.”

He laughs and hugs me one last time. “Lunch?”

“Still on,” I tell him. “Bring my baby.”

“Of course,” he says. He kisses the top of my head and walks to the door. “Love you,” he says right before he closes it behind him.

“You and Noah seem to be getting along fantastically lately. You just keep getting closer and closer,” my mom comments as she switches everything from her purse to her clutch.

You have no fucking idea, I think to myself humorlessly.

*************

“Hey Preg-o,” Erin greets me, laughing like it’s the most hilarious thing she’s ever said. I just roll my eyes. “How’s my mommy-to-be today? Did ya’ tell him yet?”

I shake my head, keeping my eyes forward, just waiting for the band to start playing so we can be seated. “I told you I wasn’t telling him until after the hearing. I didn’t need him worried about anything else.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you think he needs to know about his love child?”

“Shh…” I hiss. “Could you be any louder?”

“Oh, who cares? We’re out of here.”

“I care,” I tell her, trying not to cry. I hate this. I’m too damn emotional. “I never thought I’d be that pregnant girl at graduation.”

“No one knows. You’re only like a month, right? So nobody can even tell. Just wait till you start showing. Think, in two or three months you’ll be all cute and pregnant. Aw, and I can be Aunt Erin. How adorable is that?”

I just glare at her. How can she be so fucking bubbly? I want to crawl in a hole and die.

She rolls her eyes at me and the band starts playing. “Having a baby is a beautiful thing and you’re just walking around being all morbid about it.”

I don’t respond. I just follow the kid in front of me to my seat and stay quiet the whole time. I walk up and get my diploma absent mindedly, and I stand up a few times for things like National Honors Society and BETA club. It felt like an eternity. I practically rushed to the bathroom when it was over and threw up. Erin followed me and held my hair back, which was dumb of her – nice, but dumb – because she kept gagging and the whole time I thought she was going to throw up on the back of my head. When it was all over she handed me a Wisp, one of those little mini-toothbrushes. By the time we got outside most people were gone and my mom was standing at the front, my dad behind her sweating bullets. She looked mad.

“Where have you been, Teagan?” she demands.

“She got a little sick,” Erin answered for me.

She went into instant mother-mode, checking me for a fever and wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Should we call off lunch?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head furiously. “I’m fine.” I lie. If we cancel lunch, then Noah will worry about me, and I definitely don’t need him all over me right this second.

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I was just nervous.”

She nods.

“I’m going to go talk to my parents,” Erin says. “Meet y’all there?”

“Definitely,” I tell her as she pulls me into a hug. She sprints away then and I’m left alone with my mom.

“I’m really worried about you, Teagan. You’ve been acting strange lately,” she starts.

“Oh, baby!” Someone squeals, wrapping their arms around my waist from behind me. “My baby sister graduated,” Kim says, kissing my cheek.

“I wouldn’t get too close to her,” my mom warns Kim. “She just got sick in the bathroom.”

“I told you I’m fine.” I argue, glancing up at Kim for support.

She nods. “Yeah, maybe it was just the nerves?”

I send her a silent thank you. She just lets me go only to grab my hand. Brian, who was standing behind her, Emma, their daughter, waiting patiently in his arms, wraps an arm comfortingly around my shoulder.

My mom looks strangely at is.

“Can we just go to lunch now?” I ask, impatient.

“Sure,” she answers. “Scott, will you go get the car?”

“Of course, dear,” he says devotionally, kissing her cheek and then giving me a quick hug, smiling that cheesy dad smile of his. “I’m proud of you, kid,” he says before walking away.

“I’m going to call Noah real quick and see if the hearing is over.”

“Alright, but hurry it up. We’ll wait, but we won’t wait long.”

I shrug out of the ten sizes too big graduation robe and hand it to my mother before grabbing my phone from her and walking around up the stairs until I was out of hearing distance.

I dialed his number and waited. “Hey, baby,” he answered after the second ring.

“Hey,” I answer breezily. “How’d things go?”

“Okay,” he answers. “Celeste has to attend anger management and get a psych evaluation and then she’s being called back to see if she can get monthly supervised visitations.”

I grin. “Okay? That’s amazing! This is exactly what you wanted.”

“I know,” he answers and I can tell he’s smiling. “Grace wants to see you. Have you left yet?”

“We’re leaving now.” I answer.

“Are you already there?”

“I just got here right when you called, but my mom’s already here. She’s already got a table.”

“Great,” I say. “We’ll be there in ten.”