The Consequences of Forever (1) (10 page)

             
Adam laughed and held me closer. “I’ll let you hold out on the girl for a while, then. Mid-twenties sound good?”

             
I shook my head. “Mid-thirties sounds better.”

             
“No way. I don’t want to be the old parents at all the school functions.”

             
“Are being the young parents that much better?”

             
Adam smiled. “Point taken.” He kissed me and for the briefest of moments, all of my fears and reservations faded. I believed, in that moment, that everything really would be okay, because Adam would make it okay. He’d never let me down before, and maybe, unlike everyone else in my life, he wouldn’t start to.

             
“I love you,” he whispered and I melted into him, feeling myself love him with all of my being. This wasn’t perfect, but it was all we had, and maybe that could be enough.

             
“I love you, too,” I whispered back, spoken more like a promise than a statement.

             
“I’m going to take care of you,” he added, placing a hand gently over my stomach. “Both of you. All three of us. I’m going to make sure everything works out.”

             
I kissed him, sealing his words. I would make sure Adam kept his promise, no matter what. We were going to be a family, whatever that meant.

Chapter Eight

              Sweet sixteen.

             
I never understood it, what made turning sixteen such a big deal. A driver’s license? The law was different in every state, or so I heard. And not everyone learned to drive by sixteen.

I was still two years away from being a legal adult, and still five years away from being allowed to drink, not that drinking mattered much to me. Thinking of life in those terms made me feel younger on my sixteenth birthday, instead of older.

              I chose a small, semi-fancy restaurant right in town. It was Italian, with all the bells and whistles. Dimmed rooms, red table clothes, formally dressed waiters. Nora got Erin to watch over the bed and breakfast while we were out, although we currently didn’t have any guests checked in besides Teagan and weren’t expecting any new ones. But it was Friday, and you never knew if someone might pop up, looking for a room.

             
Hannah was more excited to go out to dinner than I was. In fact, I’d picked the restaurant with her mind. Adam and I had been there once, over the summer, and it struck me as a place Hannah would really like. He’d taken me there the night after our first time together, because he was worried I didn’t feel the same way about him after it. It was funny, the way he could be so insecure when it came to me. Adam never seemed like the type of guy that had to worry about someone wanting him.

             
But Hannah never went on dates, and never saved enough of her allowance to be able to afford more than a milkshake and a cheeseburger at the Haven Café, and even then, she tended to borrow some money from me. And even though I was still a little upset with her for revealing my secret to Scott, she still meant the world to me, and I liked seeing her happy.

             
If felt awkward at first, sitting at a table in the middle of a somewhat fancy restaurant with my family. Hannah barely glanced at the menu; just went straight to eating the small fresh-baked rolls the waiter placed on the table. My dad carefully inspected the entrees, as though he wanted to memorize his choices before making his decision, and Nora smiled across the table at me, a look of pride in her eyes.

             
“I can’t believe you’re sixteen years old,” she said, shaking her head in astonishment.              

I forced myself to smile at her. I couldn’t believe it either, but I was pretty sure our reasons were different.

              “It seems like just yesterday you were a sweet twelve year old girl that I was taking in as my daughter. Now you’re a blossoming young woman.”

             
You could say that
again. I didn’t have to look at Hannah to know she was rolling her eyes. My dad finally looked up from his menu and reached over to squeeze my hand. “That’s my girl,” he said proudly.

             
The waiter came and before anyone could place an order, Nora ordered a round of salads, shooting us a look that told us that special occasions weren’t enough to get us out of healthy eating habits. I didn’t mind nearly as much as my dad and Hannah did. I’d thrown up twice before leaving for the restaurant, and any type of food sounded good.

             
“Since Lainey is so responsible and awesome, maybe you should reconsider letting her get her license now instead of in two years,” Hannah suggested as the salads arrived.

             
Nora raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t think so, Hannah.”

             
“Why not? It isn’t like she’ll go very far. And plus, driving might come in handy.”

             
I sent her a warning look, and she caught herself before she could elaborate.

             
“Come in handy for what?” Nora inquired.

             
“Um, nothing. Just that Adam always has to drive her around everywhere; it might do good for her independence if she could drive herself places.”

             
“I think you mean, if she could drive you around places because you currently lack a boyfriend to do so for you,” my dad supplied, chuckling.

             
“Well, that too,” Hannah admitted.

             
“Now, that’s all I’m going to hear about that,” Nora announced. “I told you girls from the start that there’d be no driving until you needed to drive out of Haven for college. You’re both more than capable of catching public transportation. I’d prefer you doing that, actually. It’s better for the environment and it encourages walking.”

             
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and it encourages spending half your life waiting at a corner for the one bus in town to arrive.”

             
“Haven isn’t a very big town, Hannah. If you can’t walk to where you need to go, you probably don’t need to go there in the first place.”             

             
The waiter returned, taking our orders and interrupting the debate between Hannah and Nora. I asked for an order of whole wheat pasta with mixed vegetables and white wine sauce, and immediately started worrying that I shouldn’t be eating white wine sauce. Did it actually have alcohol in it? I had no idea. I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath, and reassured myself that if it were enough to get drunk off of, they wouldn’t have let me order it.

             
“Did your brother call you today, Lainey?” My dad asked. The waiter had taken the menus with him, leaving my dad with nothing to do but pay attention to us.

             
I nodded. “Yeah, he called about an hour after I got home from school. I talked to Cynthia for a little bit, too. She seems really nice.”

             
“I agree. She seems like a wonderful girl. I’m very proud of Mason for making a commitment.”

             
“He still seems a bit young to me,” Nora remarked, taking a small sip of her expensive red wine.

             
“He’s twenty-five. Isn’t that practically middle aged?” Hannah asked. She wasn’t a fan of Mason getting married initially, but now that it appeared Nora was critical of it, she was more than willing to be supportive.

             
“If that’s middle aged, then I’m ancient,” my dad laughed. 

             
“Well, when I was twenty-five, I was in the middle of a divorce and the mother of a three year old. It’s a lot younger than it sounds at fifteen.”

             
“Sorry I ruined your life, Mom.”

             
“Oh, Hannah, stop being so dramatic. I’m just stating the fact that at twenty-five, you shouldn’t be worried about getting married or having children or already be in that situation. Life is long; you have plenty of time to figure out what you want for yourself before having to worry about other people.”

             
I wondered if Nora had any idea how close to home her words were hitting. I put down the roll I had been buttering, suddenly not hungry at all.

             
“I don’t even remember where I was at twenty-five,” my dad remarked, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood.

             
The food arrived and I forced myself to take a tentative bite. Nothing happened. I ate around the sauce the best I could, mostly concentrating on the vegetables. I always ate healthy, but I wondered if I was supposed to alter my diet at all now. Were you supposed to eat differently when you were pregnant? Again, I had no idea, and the person that would be able to tell me the best information was the last person in the world I wanted to talk to about it.

             
“So what kind of cake did you make?” Hannah asked, interrupting the silence that had fallen over us after the arrival of dinner.

             
Nora smiled. “Lemon with cream cheese icing, homemade, of course,” she responded. “Lainey’s favorite.”

             
Hannah made a face. “Lainey, are you trying to be the most boring person ever? Who actually likes lemon cake?”

             
“Calm down, Hannah, I bought some strawberry ice cream to go with it,” Nora scolded her.

             
“The kind with actual strawberries in it?”

             
“Of course.”

             
“Um, Nora, do you think it will be alright if Adam comes over for cake? I know you wanted to do a family dinner and it’s been great, but I was wondering if cake would be okay.” I hadn’t intended on asking her, but Adam had been pestering me about it all day, and I felt obligated.

             
Nora frowned. “I don’t know, Lainey. I don’t think it’s really appropriate to have boyfriends over when we’re supposed to be having family time.”             

             
“You let Scott over last year,” Hannah pointed out.

             
“Well, honey, that’s a little different. Erin and I have been close since we moved here, and I’ve known Scott for a few years now. In a way, the Fosters are almost like extended family.”

             
“Adam is like family to me,” I said without thinking.

             
Nora looked at me, alarmed. “Lainey, don’t say things like that. I know you and Adam think you’re serious now, but you’re just turning sixteen! You don’t need to look at a boyfriend as a part of your family. It’s inappropriate.”

             
“Adam’s a nice boy,” my dad spoke up. “I think it’ll be fine having him over for cake. It is her birthday, after all.”

             
Nora shot him a look. “I am aware of that, Michael. I’m also aware of how easy it is for a young girl to lose her identity and get lost in a relationship, and I’m determined not to let that happen with Hannah or Lainey.”

             
“Here we go, bad-mouthing my dad again,” Hannah complained.

I felt for her. At least I had a few memories of my mom, and I’d had plenty of pictures before I got rid of them all. Hannah had none of that; her father had left before she was two, and never contacted her again. Nora had no reason to say anything nice about him, so she never did.

              “Hannah Grace, no one has said a word about your father. I am just stating the fact that there is no need for high school relationships to get more serious than they need to be.”

             
“Nora, I understand exactly what you’re saying, but I don’t think it’s fair to dictate who comes over and does what when it’s Lainey’s birthday. Now, you set the rule that she’s only allowed to see him on weekends, and it just so happens that her birthday fell on a Friday this year, so that’s all the more reason to invite him over for cake.”

             
“Well, then should we add in the fact that she broke that rule this past Monday when she didn’t get home until after six o’clock because she was God knows where with him?” Nora demanded.

             
My dad sighed his defeat. “I just don’t think having the boy over for cake is such an issue, dear. That’s all.”

             
“Well, I happen to disagree. I think that allowing him to come over when we’re having family time is sending the wrong message. Boyfriends are not family, and therefore they should not intervene on family time.” Her voice remained steady and stern; she was not backing down. I regretted bringing the subject up in the first place. I closed my eyes and tried to block out their voices, but the argument continued.

             
My dad insisted that having Adam over wasn’t a big deal and didn’t send any particular message, while Nora strongly insisted otherwise. I heard their voices slowly growing louder, and I could feel eyes starting to peer in our direction, focusing on us. Boyfriends at a family dinner were inappropriate, but apparently having the parents argue like school kids wasn’t, apparently.

             
Something inside of me clicked.

             
“I’m pregnant,” I announced, and the quiet fell so suddenly it made me dizzy. They both stopped talking in mid-sentence and turned to me, their eyes wide and their mouths still open. The fork Nora was holding fell from her hand and shattered onto the table.

             
“Excuse me?” Nora asked, placing her hand to her throat. Her already fair complexion had grown even paler.

             
“I’m pregnant,” I repeated, finding an inner strength I didn’t know I had. “So that settles the argument. Adam is family, because I’m pregnant with his baby.” I forced myself to meet my dad’s eyes, and he looked away. Was it shame? I couldn’t tell. I didn’t want to know.

             
“Lainey, if this is your version of a joke, or some sort of cry for attention, I am not impressed,” Nora warned.

             
“It’s not,” Hannah broke in. “She really is.”

             
“You knew about this?” Nora demanded. Hannah nodded and shrunk back into her chair, as if the seriousness of the situation was finally dawning on her.