Of All the People

It had been a week since I had told Jack about the baby, and it seemed as if I had been getting bigger by the second, which is defiantly not true. I barley grew at all. Jack and I had been going to classes, and we were not really talking about what we were going to do.

Although, every night, around dinner time, when I rushed into the bathroom, Jack came shortly after, holding a glass of water, and a washcloth. He would hold my hair, and whisper soothing words into my ear.

That weekend was parent’s weekend, and my dad was coming to visit me. I had decided to tell him when he got here, and I had already discussed it with Jack. He had said that he would be by my side the whole time. Just a few minutes after I had come back from my nightly puking ritual, there was a knock on Jack and my door. I glanced over at Jack, it was my dad. He gave me a reassuring nod and a smile, and I got up to open the door.

“Hey sweetie!” my dad practically shouted, dropping his backpack, and giving an internal organ squishing hug. I pulled away, and my dad looked concerned.

“Are you okay?” he asked me quietly, eying Jack suspiciously. I nodded, and my eyes brimmed with tears, that were threateningly to spill over at any minute.

“Daddy, there’s something I really need to tell you.” I told him, and I felt Jack come up and stand up beside me, resting comforting hands on my shoulders.

“What is it!? What happened?!” he asked, his face getting more and more alarmed as the seconds past.

“D-Daddy…I-I’m…” I stuttered. I looked back at Jack, and he stepped closer to me, wrapping his arms around me. I sighed.

“I’m having a baby.” I said in a voice so small that I could barley hear myself.

“What?” my dad asked quietly.

“I’m having a baby!” I said in a stage-whisper. Then my dad laughed.

“So are you doing a school project or something?” he asked, still grinning. When I shook my head, and looked down, he got quiet. It was silent for a second, and I dared to look up.

My dad was almost purple and about ready to burst.

“You’re having a BABY!?” he shouted at me. I merely nodded, and then my dad turned to Jack.

“YOU LITTLE MUTHER-FUCKER!!! YOU GOT MY LITTLE GIRL FUCKING PREGNANT!!!!” he shouted. Jack stood his ground, and didn’t say anything. So my dad turned to me again.

“So we send you off to boarding school and you have SEX!? And you get yourself PREGNANT?!” he asked me. I nodded, and said, “I’m sorry,” in a quiet tone. That just made my dad even madder.

“You’re pregnant, and all you have to say for yourself is I’M SORRY!!!???” he shouted. I nodded, and that’s when the dam burst, and my tears came flooding from my eyes.

“I’m so sorry daddy, I didn’t mean for this to happen! I didn’t try to have a baby.” I said meekly, still sobbing. Jack stepped in front of me, and my dad got really mad then. He started to throw punches at Jack! I shouted for him to stop.

“Daddy! Please-Don’t do this! It wasn’t his fault!” I said, trembling form my sobs and from fear. Jack wasn’t even standing up for himself. He was just staying still, and not even trying to block the punches.

When my dad was all finished, he glared at us.

“I’m leaving. I expect you to tell your mother, and I expect that you get rid of this baby, however you can. I do not want my fifteen year old daughter to be a mom. If you do not respect my wishes, then I want nothing to do with you and your bastard child. Goodbye Athena.” He said, all the while with me close to hyperventilating, tears flowing down my face. He left, and slammed the door behind him. I turned to Jack, who was sitting on the bed. I went and sat next to him, and asked, “Why didn’t you do anything?! You just let him punch you!” I said, grabbing onto his arms. He gripped my chin in his hand, and made me look him in the eye, instead of examining him for damage.

“Because I love you.” He said, not elaborating. I sighed, and walked over to my desk, wiping away my tears as I did so. I picked up my phone. I was going to call my mother, I wanted to be the one to tell her, and not have my dad blurt out the news in his angry state. I listened to the rings.

One…two…three…

“Hello?” my mom asked.

“Hi mom.” I said to her, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice, but failing miserably.

“Hey Thea, what’s wrong?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“I-I’m…pregnant.” I said, cringing at the thought of her reaction, but all I herd on the other end of the line was a small, “Oh.”

“What are you going to do?” my mom asked.

“Well, daddy says that I need to get rid of it…” I said, breaking off as my voice cracked.

“Do you love him?” asked my mom. I wasn’t quite sure who she was talking about, so I asked, “What?”

“The father, do you love him?” she asked again.

“Yes, so very much.” I replied.

“Then you know what to do.” My mom said, and abruptly hung up. I looked at the phone for a few seconds, thinking that maybe the phone could tell me what to do, because my mother defiantly wasn’t going to.

“How’d it go?” asked Jack, I glanced back at him, and stuck my phone back into my pocket.

“Well…I’m still not sure what I’m going to do, if that’s what you’re asking.” I told him, walking over to my bed, and sitting down on it.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked Jack, looking up at him through my eyelashes. He looked taken aback by my question, but then frowned, and thought about it for a second.

“Well, I…”