What had I done? I had ruined my life and someone else’s in the course of a night with out even knowing it. Not that it was all my fault, but partly. Now we will have to face the consequences together. Yes, together. Hopefully. How was I going to tell him? My family? What about all my friends at school? They all think I’m the innocent girl that wouldn’t do anything this stupid. I guess they were wrong because the biggest mistake just happened. I was pregnant.

The reality of this situation is that I will be a mother in a short nine months. With or without the support of my family and friends. And I am most definitely not ready. I was only 15 and so was my boyfriend. I haven’t even told him yet or his or my parents.
“I have to talk to you. In private. It’s important.” I said to him as I pushed past him into his house when he opened the door.
“Uhm, okay?”
“Can we go somewhere private?” I said again. Looking at his brother sitting on the couch.
“Yeah, we can go in the basement.”
“Okay.” I said leading myself to the door.

Opening it, I paused at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath. My heart was hammering in my chest. Tyler knew something was wrong but said nothing as he waited for me to descend the stairs. He was always so patient with me. That’s one thing I had always loved about him.

We sat together on the couch and he finally asked me what was wrong.
“How much do you love me?” I asked.
“Tons. You know that. Why do you question me?”
“Because I have news that could change those feelings for me forever.” I answered.
“Nothing could change the feelings I have for you. You-”
“I’m pregnant…” I bursted out.

I looked right into his eyes at that moment and all I could see was question and exhaustion. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen. Right before our eyes our lives were crumbling into pieces and we couldn’t stop it. His dream of being the first freshman to start for basketball in college, my dream of being a cheerleader for a great college football team. He wanted to be a police officer, me, a general pediatrician. It all went down the drain when we had sex that one time. Just then, I started crying.
“A-are you positive?” He asked in shock.
I nodded a yes with a wet sob as I looked down at our hands which were intertwined in my lap. He pulled his hands out of mine and wrapped them around my small shaking frame. My face against his chest was the most reassuring thing I had felt during this whole situation. I pulled back and looked up at his face. He was thinking. He had his thinking face on. I saw it so often that it made me smile a small bit this time when I saw it.
“We’re going to be able to do this, Charlotte.” He said, “It may be hard at times and we may not be the best parents but we will love this child and raise it right.”
“So you want to keep it?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“So do I. We made this baby so I think its our responsibility to raise it.”
“That’s how I think too.”
“I love you Ty.”
“I love you too Char.”

We sat there for a long while. His strong, safe arms wrapped around me. I thought about how we were going to raise this baby. Ty has a job but not a very good one. Not one we can raise a baby off of his pay check with. And we’re both still in high school. How are we going to work, go to school, and have a baby at home. This was going to be very tough I realized. The biggest challenge in our lives.
I unraveled myself from his arms and looked into his eyes, “How are we supposed to tell our parents?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. I guess we just have to tell them.”
“Together. It has to be together.” I said finally.
“Okay. We can do that.”
“ I should go, my mom will be wondering when I’m coming home. I told her I wouldn’t be here long.” I said, getting up off the couch.
“Please stay…” Tyler whispered, standing up beside me, grabbing me around the waist.
“I cant.” I said smiling.
“Okay.” he said trying to make his face looked pained.
“Call me tonight, okay?”
“Yeah, I will. We have to talk about a lot of things.”
“I know.” I answered, my mouth tightening into a straight line.
Then he reached down and kissed me, getting my face to relax for the first time in hours. I got that same feeling behind my knees that I always get when I’m kissing Tyler, like they want to give out. He gently took me by the waist and pulled me up on my tip toes so I could stare straight into his eyes.
“I love you Charlotte Marie.”
“I love you too Tyler Jacob.”
“I have to go.” I said after a little while.
“Okay, I’ll walk you to the door.” Tyler said.
As we walked upstairs and out the door, Tyler wouldn’t let go of my hand. Finally I pulled myself away from him and started the way to my house. Just across the yard and through the wooded area that separated our houses from each other. This was the start of the rest of my new life.