Best of Me

It all started like any other story. There was a party, there was drinking, and one thing led to another. It was a cliché that had been seen a million times before. Katherine Taylor had been best friends with Brian Haner Jr. and the rest of Avenged Sevenfold since she was a kid. She took a strong liking to Brian just as he did with her; they were permanently attached at the hip.

As the years passed, their bond remained strong, so it wasn’t surprising when they hooked up after getting completely shitfaced. They were comfortable with each other; add alcohol to the mix and it ends with sex. They hooked up one other time before the party, but it was years ago. Brian had taken Kat to prom and she wanted the full experience. It never changed anything in their friendship.

But at the party…something changed in Kat. She couldn’t say the same for Brian, but she noticed a shift within herself. She was brushing it off though, convincing herself that it was just the alcohol from that night or maybe the new pregnancy hormones.

Kat nervously drummed her fingers against her thigh, trying her damnedest to concentrate on the forms on her lap.

Name:
Birthdate:
Social Security #:
Phone number:
Date of last menstrual period:

They were simple questions, but her brain was struggling to comprehend them. When was my last period? She looked around the waiting room, seeing women of varying ages around her. One girl in particular caught her attention. She couldn’t have been much older than 16 and her belly was rounded out, maybe six months along. She looked so sad and lost, but there was that underlying glow of happiness as she gently rubbed her belly.

Kat suddenly felt guilty. Here was this 16-year-old pregnant girl who was going through with having her baby, with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and Kat was about to terminate. What reason did she really have to terminate her pregnancy? Because she wasn’t married? Because the father is her best friend and not her boyfriend or husband? The longer she thought about, the less it started making sense. She had a stable job; her schedule was incredibly flexible because she worked from home. There was no legitimate reason in her mind to not have this baby.

Kat quickly stood up from her seat, crumpled up the forms, and returned the clipboard to the front desk. She left the building and took a deep breath, her nerves rapidly firing. Her stomach was twisting, and she felt nauseous. She didn’t know if it was because of the baby or anxiety. Both was a strong possibility.

Sure, she could have a baby, she could care for that child by herself. She was already self-sufficient and independent; she could do this. But what was she going to say to everyone else? Brian would know that he was the father, and then there would be questions about them getting together or co-parenting. And that’s if he even wanted anything to do with the baby. Kat was not going to force that on him. If he didn’t want to be involved, he didn’t have to be. And she would be okay with that.

Kat sighed as she pressed a button on her steering wheel, the Bluetooth connecting to her phone as she called Val. Her blonde best friend answered the phone quickly.

“Hello you beautiful woman.” Val chirped happily on the other end. Kat forced a smile as she flipped on her blinker and turned onto the main road.

“I need to talk to you about something. Is there any way you can meet me at my house?” Kat asked, her fingers instinctually twitched towards her pack of cigarettes. It wasn’t until she grabbed them that she realized that smoking wasn’t an option anymore. Huffing, she dropped them back into the cupholder and chewed the inside of her cheek.

“Is everything okay?” Val’s demeanor immediately became serious. She could tell that something was wrong.

“No, yeah? Maybe.” Was Kat’s only response. She really had no idea how to feel about everything. There was no immediate maternal instinct that kicked in. There was no excitement. Just a lot of questions, anxiety, and nausea.

They ended the call and Kat tried to focus on anything but the fact that she was pregnant. Val was her best girl friend and the only one who could help her wrap her head around this. She couldn’t exactly go to Brian yet. She couldn’t see a coherent conversation coming from that.

When she pulled into the parking lot of her townhouse, she spotted Val’s car and parked next to it, seeing the blonde waiting for her. When Kat stepped out of the car, Val immediately tossed her arms around her shorter friend, hugging tightly.

“So, what exactly is going on?” Val asked as they walked to Kat’s door, stepping inside the two-story townhome. The brunette dropped her keys by the door and sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

Kat’s hands came up to rub over her face and through her hair. “You remember the party you and Matt threw about 6 weeks ago?”

Val nodded. “Yeah, that was one of my best ones.”

Kat breathed a laugh through her nose and nodded in agreement. “I’d say so considering I’m pregnant…and it’s Brian’s.”

Val blinked rapidly, almost as if her brain was struggling to comprehend what was said. And then it clicked.

“Wait, what? How the fuck did that happen?”

“Well, when a man and a woman-” Kat started, but was immediately silenced when Val shot her a displeased look. She was clearly unimpressed with Kat’s sense of humor.

“Sorry.” She started as she sat down on her sofa, Val sitting across from her in the recliner. “I don’t really know what happened. We were both pretty hammered and I remember following him to talk about what happened with Michelle. After that, it’s all really fuzzy.”

“Holy shit, that’s…intense. What are you going to do?”

“I guess I’m going to have it. I tried to have an abortion, that’s where I was earlier, but I couldn’t. It made all the sense in the world before I got there; after that, it made no sense at all. I couldn’t justify why I was contemplating it. So, I left and called you.”

Val sighed before a small smile crept onto her lips. “Well, you know that you always have us for support. Not just me and Matt, but the rest of us. We’re here for you always. Besides, I always thought you and Brian would make beautiful babies.”

“Jesus Christ, Val. He doesn’t even know, and when he does, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to suddenly get together.” Kat laughed, feeling a lot better after hearing what Val had to say.

“Eh, doesn’t matter. That baby is going to be gorgeous.” Val winked playfully. “Seriously, this probably won’t be easy, but if there’s anyone that can do this, it’s you. And I think Brian will react better than you think.”

Val stayed with Kat for a little while longer, talking about planning for the baby, and possible names. They even talked about how she was going to tell Brian. They decided it would be a good idea for her to wait two weeks, go to her OB/GYN appointment, and then talk to Brian once everything was determined to be okay. It also gave Kat a couple weeks to figure out what exactly to say.

By the time Val left, Kat was somewhat excited about going through with this pregnancy. However, she was still extremely nervous about telling Brian. There were a million different ways it could go, and she was preparing for the worst ones. She would just have to wait and see how it goes.