Smoke on the Water

It took a good, solid fifteen minutes before Natasha muttered any other words. She kept repeating, ‘I’m pregnant’ over and over again. In all honesty, she didn’t know what to think. They had used a condom. That should’ve done the trick, right? Wrong. Natasha, without a doubt, remembered Brody reaching for a condom and putting it on. But what happened after that, well that was a mystery to Natasha. She was on a high of pleasurable bliss after the condom went on, and she had no intention on coming down. She was in pure ecstasy that night, but now she has to suffer the consequences of those actions no matter how unjustified they were.

“How could this have happened?” Natasha whispered with tears streaming down her face. “How? How could this have happened?” she screamed at the four girls who stood hopelessly in front of her with no answer.

“Did… did you use a condom?” Maria ventured cautiously.

“Of course we used a condom!” Natasha yelled as she rose up from her place on the kitchen floor. “I’m sure of it!”

“Natasha, condoms could break. Were you on birth control or any other contraceptive?” Amy asked.

“No! I didn’t think I had to be. This was the first time Brody and I had sex! We’ve never even done it after that one time.”

Amy looked as though she was thinking something through. ‘Something doesn’t quite add up,’ she thought to herself. “You said that you guys had sex four weeks ago?” she asked Natasha.

“Yeah, he took me to the Four Seasons to celebrate our graduation."

Jess continued Amy’s thought, “If you got pregnant four weeks ago, how could you not have known? Didn’t you get a missed period?”

Natasha stammered, “I never mark my period. It’s never been stable ever since I got it, so there was no reason for me to mark it on a calendar.”

A few moments of dreadful silence passed between the girls before Natasha’s face had tears running down her cherry red cheeks again.

She didn’t know what her parents would say, whether they’d be happy for her or not. She didn’t know if she could take care of a child or if she would miserably fail. And she sure didn’t know what Brody would say. Natasha liked to think that he would be happy for them and that he’d welcome the baby with open arms, but then, Natasha’s mind started to wander.

What if he completely dismisses the baby? What if he is utterly disgusted by the thought of having a kid with Natasha? He’ll probably never speak to her or see her ever again. He’ll probably blame her for the pregnancy, saying that she should’ve been on birth control or another contraceptive other than the condom.

“What if he never speaks to me ever again?” Natasha whispered she slowly took a seat at the kitchen counter.

“Natasha, you know that that will never happen,” Amy started. “Brody loves you. You know that. And if he truly loves you, he would not even think about ignoring the baby.”

“But what if he doesn’t want to have a baby with me? We don’t know how to raise a child!” Natasha yelled.

“It’ll be alright. Everything will fall into place,” Jess calmed. “Sure you didn’t expect this to happen but like it or not, you have a precious baby in your belly. A precious baby in which you made with the man of your dreams. Now you have to take responsibility for that child, and yes it will be hard, but you and Brody can do it, because you two love each other to death.”

Natasha knew that what Jess said was all true. She and Brody made this baby. Now they have to take the responsibility and try to be the best parents ever. But even if Brody does accept the baby, what would her parents say? What would his parents say?

“God, what will my parents say? They’ll probably disown me and never let me see Brody ever again!” Natasha wailed.

“You know that wouldn’t happen,” Maria said.

“How do you know that?!” Natasha screamed at her with tears collecting in her eyes. “They are already pissed off at me that I even considered going to Temple, now what they would say. You know what they said about Brody. They said that he’s no good for me and that I’m too young to know love but now,” tears streamed down her face. “Now, I’m pregnant. Do you know what they can do to me? I don’t have a job; I don’t know how to support myself. I need my parents’ help. I need their money, money which they can quickly take away from me.”

Natasha put her face in the hands as her friends looked at her with no possible words to comfort her. A baby is supposed to be a blessing, but as of this moment, it was a mistake; a mistake on Brody’s and Natasha’s part. It was mistake that the two teenagers made, and now they have to make a game plan on how to deal with this.

After a few minutes, Jess decided to speak up, “So what’s the plan now?”

Natasha’s mind was boggled. She knew she had to calm herself down before she did something she would regret. She had to think about what’s going to happen next.

“Well, Brody and I have a date tonight at a restaurant. Should I tell him there?”

There was a collective nod from the group but Natasha nerves quivered with fear.

“You have to tell him,” Amy said assertively. “You have to do this now because he has to know before you tell your parents. And you should tell your parents together.”

“But how do I tell him?” Natasha cried.

“Just say it out in the open. ‘I’m pregnant,’ and that’s it. If he loves you like he does, he wouldn’t even think about being anything but over the moon happy about this pregnancy.”

Maria continued. “And then, after you tell him, get both your parents and Brody’s parents together and tell them. It’ll be much easier if you tell them as a group rather than individually.”

“It’ll be hella funny, too,” Maria added comically. She was right. When you put Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Baxter together, all hell can break loose. Those two were always on a short fuse and automatically disliked each other ever since Brody and Natasha started dating. And now that Natasha’s pregnant with Brody’s child, God, those two could literally kill each other.

“Yeah, but hopefully Mr. Baxter will be there,” Amy noted. “He knows how to calm his bitch of a wife down.”

Natasha agreed. She ultimately liked Mr. Baxter. He wasn’t moody or stuck up like. He was just calm and always trying to solve a bad situation which is the exact opposite of Mrs. Baxter. He always tried to keep the calm in the family; a character trait that was passed down from him to Brody.

Natasha took a deep breath before looking at her watch, quarter before eight. “I have to go meet Brody at the restaurant,” Natasha announced as she stood up and walked to the mirror. She looked a mess but had no time to fix it. She looked at herself one more time before taking a deep breath and heading for the front door.

“It’ll be okay, love,” Amy assured. “He loves you, he would never even think about not giving this baby anything but love and pure adoration.”

“Thanks Amy,” Natasha said as she walked to give her a hug.

“By the way,” Amy whispered in her ear as they were embracing. “Congratulations, mommy.”



Natasha had to take multiple deep breaths before being able to step into the swanky restaurant without bursting into tears from the nerves that were threatening to surface. As soon as she saw Brody in casual but handsome attire, her nerves diminished slightly.

On the sight of her, Brody stood up from the table for two and smiled at her.

“Hey baby,” Brody greeted her cheerfully and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi honey,” she returned the kiss. Brody walked around the table and pulled out her chair for her.

“I ordered some appetizers for us,” Brody commented. “I hope that’s alright.”

“Yeah definitely,” Natasha replied. “I... uh… actually have to tell you something,” Natasha stuttered.

“Oh well I have something I have to tell you, too,” Brody smiled that perfect smiled. Natasha wondered if the baby would get his smile. ‘Maybe it would get his eyes,’ she thought, ‘He has the most beautiful eyes.’

“You go first,” Natasha said quickly.

“No no no. Ladies first.”

“Brody, I think you should go first because my news is a bit of a shocker,” Natasha’s smile disappeared to show Brody she was serious.

Brody wondered what was going on but bit his lip and proceeded to tell her his news.

“You know that scout from Temple University that came to football practice a couple months ago?”

“Yeah,” Natasha replied as she took a sip of the Dr. Pepper on the table. She vividly remembered that game. Natasha could tell he was beyond nervous as she watched her quarterback boyfriend on the football field.

“Well, he was actually a scout for the Temple Owls and yesterday they called me and said that they want me to play for the Owls on a full ride,” Brody smiled at her with a wide grimace.

Natasha’s jaw dropped, “Are you serious?”

“Yep, I’ll officially be going to Temple University on a full scholarship.”

“Oh my, God! Congratulations! This is incredible!” Natasha said to him with a wide smile on her face.

“Yeah, I can’t believe that they picked me,” Brody said obviously humbled by the prestigious scholarship awarded to him. “So what is your news?”

Natasha’s heart dropped to her stomach as she nervously scattered her eyes across the room.

“Uhm… Brody, God, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” she started but stopped when she set her eyes on Brody. He was looking at her intently with his piercing blue eyes.

“Just say it, Natasha,” Brody persisted.

“Okay,” Natasha took another breath, “Brody, I’m pregnant.”A