A Family Affair

Katie heads home to talk to Ray. But on the way there, she gets an unexpected visit.

Katie held her phone to her ear. She had called Ray four times already, and he hadn't answered once. This was very unlike Ray. He always answered the phone when she called. And wasn't he the one who told Katie to call him when she wanted to talk? And now here she was sitting alone in a coffee shop waiting for her boyfriend to answer. Sure enough, it went to voice-mail. She hung up the phone and dropped it on the table.

 

"I can't believe that he would do this to me." Katie put her head between her hands. She felt like she wanted to cry, but she chose to not seeing how she was in the coffee shop. She gathered all her belongings and exited the coffee shop. Instead of waiting for Ray to answer his phone, she started heading for his house. While she was walking, she heard a car pull up beside her. Katie didn't want to look for fear of something bad happening, so she just kept walking. Katie heard a car door open which was soon followed by the sound of someone walking behind her.

 

"Katie?" She heard the voice behind her and knew who it was instantly. She didn't even have to turn around to confirm.

 

"Mom? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Katie looked at her mom in disbelief. She hadn't talked to her mom since the fight with her dad. And now here she was standing in front of her.

 

"I called Ray's mom and she told me that you were out with Ray. So I figured I'd come and look for you. I would really like to talk." Her mom reached her hand out to touch her arm. Katie pulled away.

 

"You didn't seem to want to talk last night. All you did was let dad do all the talking, while I stood there and had to listen to it." Katie looked at her mom and then just walked away. She couldn't deal with it anymore. She used to trust her mom, but after what happened last night, she couldn't even look at her.

 

"Katie, please. Let's go get something to eat. I am sure you are hungry." Katie resisted the temptation to give in. But she was hungry. Ray and her had never made it to breakfast. And she figured that it wasn't healthy to not eat with a baby inside of her.

 

"Alright, mom. But I am not making any promises." Katie got into the car and her mom drove off to a restaurant. They pulled up at a little diner and went inside. They sat down, ordered , and stared at each other in complete silence.

 

Katie's mom finally broke the silence. "So, how  are Ray's parents doing?"  Katie looked up from her water and just stared at her mom. Katie didn't want to be here. Her mom knew that. Katie could tell that her mother had some ulterior motive.

 

"They are fine, mom. I don't think you really care, but they are just fine." Katie's mom put her cup of coffee down on the table and leaned in closer to Katie so she wouldn't have to yell in the diner.

 

"Katie, why are you acting this way towards me? I am not the one that yelled at you last night." She looked around to see if anyone was looking at them. Her mother was not one to make a scene and neither was Katie. But after what had happened last night, Katie felt like she needed to get her point across to her mom and making a scene was just the way to do it.

 

"No, mom, you didn't yell at me. But what you did was one hundred times worse. You let him yell at me. You didn't even try to stop him. You simply just walked away and acted like the problem wasn't there. I am pregnant. Okay? You are just going to have to deal with it because there is nothing I can do to change that! So either you can walk away from me forever and I will be on my own, or you can support me like a parent...like a mother should support her daughter." Katie's mom looked at her in disbelief. Katie had never raised her voice to her mom like that ever. And even now that she had done it, she wished that she could rewind that moment differently.

 

"Katie, your father and I love you. I know he has a funny way of showing it, but he loves you a lot. He wants you to be successful in life. He wants you to go to college and get a career and not have to depend on Ray for everything." Katie's mom placed her hand on Katie's. She looked deep into her eyes almost like she was peering into her soul. "We want what is best for you, and I don't think a baby is the best thing right now." Katie was flabbergasted. She pulled her hand away from her mom and looked away.

 

"Well, what do you expect me to do mom? It's not like I can go back in time and stop myself from having sex. The choice has been made mom. I'm sorry." Katie could hear her mom going through her purse. She pulled out a pamphlet, kind of like the ones she got from the clinic this morning, and placed it on the table.

 

"You do have a choice. You can make this go away forever. All you have to do is make a phone call and an appointment and it will all go back to normal. I will even go with you." Katie looked down at the pamphlet and saw the words of death written on it.

 

"Mom...how could you even suggest this? Or was this dad's idea?" Katie had a look of disgust on her face. She didn't even try to hide it.

 

"No, Katie, I did. Your father doesn't even know I am with you right now. Look Katie, I know that it seems like a bad choice. But just think of it. After it's done, your life will go back to normal. You can finish school, go to college, get a job, do all the things you have dreamed of. I know all this because I have had one." Katie gasped at that last statement. Her mom had done the very deed she was suggesting? This was very unsettling to Katie and she now saw her mom in a totally different light.

 

"When did you have it done? Does dad know?" Katie's mom looked down at her cup of coffee and started to stir the spoon in her cup.

 

"It was when your father and I were in high school. We were young and in love, very much in love. Things sort of happened and I ended up pregnant. I knew that your father and I weren't ready for a baby and I knew your grandparents would have killed me if I told them I was pregnant. So I took care of it before it became a problem. Trust me Katie, it will all be alright. Your life can go back to normal." Katie's eyes started to form tears. She couldn't stand this anymore. She got up from the table and grabbed her belongings. "Katie, where are you going?"

 

Katie looked back at her mom. Her mom could see the tears now falling down her cheeks. "I can't stand to be here another second. I don't want things to go back to normal. My life was hell before I got pregnant. And while it may be difficult, I am not going to get an abortion just so my life will be easier. This baby inside of me is a human. And I will not kill it for my convenience. I will not do what you did."

 

Katie stormed out of the diner. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She ran towards Ray's house. All she wanted to do was fall in Ray's arms and cry. She needed his comfort now more then ever. But before she could reach his house, she bumped into someone on the street. She fell to the ground and looked up to see who she had collided into. She could not believe who was in front of her. It was someone that she had never expected to see. And now that she had, old memories flooded through her brain. 

Author's Note

Next Chapter everyone. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. Hope the progression of the story is something that is keeping you guys interested in the story. Please review and give me your opinions

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

breaking from our parents - from their mistakes is often the hardest thing we do as independent adults. Well penned chapter.

[Silent Wolf]

I wonder who that person she bumped into was...
Anyways, great chapter. ^-^

[Angel]

Magnificent.
I am so proud of Katie!!
How hard it has to be for a kid to hear that their parent has had an abortion. Of course, the kid is immediately going to think "that could have been me!"...and he'd be right!! It could have!!

Very well done!!