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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 0:59:26 GMT -5
Gracie smiled at him as he left and went on with her day, the whole time thinking about Avery and the baby. She thought up names that she would give it, because let's face it, she just couldn't help herself. She got on the internet and looked up things about pregnancy like due date or how the baby grew and it intrigued her. She'd never actually realized how fast babies grow in the womb. How quickly they actually start to look like a baby. She heard the door open and she heard her mother call to her and she exited off of the internet and got up shooting Avery a text, About to tell my mom.
"Hey Mom," she said lightly. "Hey, Gracelyn, where's Tally? Did she go out?" her mother asked her. Gracie nodded in reply, but didn't answer to where, because she simply didn't know and hadn't really worried about that. "Mom," she started, I need to tell you something." Karissa looked up at her and gave her a wave of her hand, "Alright, shoot." Gracie licked her lips. "I think you need to sit down..." Her mother gave her an odd look, but found a kitchen chair and did as her daughter had asked of her. "Momma, Avery and I are going to have a baby," she said. Might as well just get it out.
Karissa started at her for a moment and then asked a sharp, direct question. "What?" "Well, I'm pregnant. I found out this morning." "You have got to be kidding me." "No, ma'am. I'm serious. We're going to have a baby. Avery's got enough saved up for a pretty big down payment on a house, and with him going into the Air Force, we'll get his salary along with my wages when I find a job, which I plan on doing soo--" "Shut up, Gracelyn," her mother said sharply cutting off her story. "Do you think this is wise? Do you think that just because we aren't rich you can marry up and be perfectly fine? Life doesn't work that way." Gracie gave her mother an odd look, "Mom, I didn't say anything about marriage. Not yet. We won't have time before he leaves for basic. I won't be eighteen until he's gone to training and I'll have the baby then as well. Besides, its not like it's really marrying up so much as I love him." "Maybe you do love him, Gracie, but how do you know that he loves you? That he won't leave you when he gets bored? All men are the same, Gracelyn and they don't do things like this and then take up for themselves, especially not the spoiled ones.
"He isn't spoiled, mom," Gracie said from behind clenched teeth. "I know he loves me because if he didn't he wouldn't tell me everything the way that he does. If he didn't love me he wouldn't have gotten back together with me after we broke up, mom. You don't know anything about him, all you know is that he's got money and you don't like that. He's hard working, mom! You didn't know that, did you? He works his ass off, you should see how much extra training he's been doing to prepare for basic!" "Discipline and trustworthiness are two totally different things, Gracie!" her mother yelled standing up. "I've seen the most disciplined people in the world cheat on their girlfriends!" "Mother!" Gracie yelled. "You don't even know him!" "I don't have to know him!" "Then you don't have to know me," Gracie said softly. With those last words she walked out of the apartment, taking her coat with her. She was headed to the park, or maybe somewhere warm, she wasn't sure. A milkshake sounds good, she thought, so that's where she headed, Palmer's Diner.
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 2:09:09 GMT -5
By the time Avery got out of the shower and got dressed, dinner was done, he kept his phone close at the table, something that bugged his mom to no end, and ate in near silence. Monte kicked him under the table when he'd sat staring at his phone for a few minutes, his fork hanging in the air with a piece of broccoli on the end. "Avery, you alright?" His mom asked, setting her fork down. "Uh, huh." He said, putting the fork in his mouth, then nearly chocking on it when his phone beeped, telling him he had a new text from Gracie. He didn't have to open it to know what it said. "Uh." He put his fork down.
"Something on your mind, son?" His dad chimed in, cutting up his chicken breast. "You look like you were waiting on your phone to do a trick." He chuckled a bit and put his fork in his mouth. Avery glanced up at Monte and pushed his iPhone into his pocket. "I actually have to tell you something." He picked up his fork and moved the wild rice around on his plate. "I'm uh, going to be...a dad." He put his fork down and looked up at his mom.
"A dad?" She repeated, her fork now hanging in midair. "Uh huh, a dad, Gracie's pregnant." He was trying to keep the annoyance with her to a minimum, he hated when people repeated what he said as a question. "I don't know what we did to make you do this to us." She said, scooting her chair back and getting up from the table. She picked up her plate and walked into the kitchen. Avery took a deep breath and looked at his half finished plate of food. "I didn't do this to her." He mumbled. His dad got up. "You know how she is. I'm going to go calm her down, I can't say I'm too pleased to be a grandpa already, but in my opinion there's no use fighting over something that's done. You have a plan at least right?" His dad asked as he picked up his plate and started toward the kitchen after his wife. "Yeah, we're having him or her, I'm going to get us a place, I'm going to basic and tech and when I come home I'll have a baby girl or boy to love along with a beautiful woman to marry." He looked his dad right in the eyes. "I may need help with getting the house contracts and all, but I have more than enough in savings to put a hefty down payment on it and my paychecks will be more than enough to take care of any payments and expenses Gracie may need. I know what my responsibilities are." His dad nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
"I thought I'd end up with a kid before you." Monte said, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth. "You trying to make me look good?" Avery laughed and shook his head. "Yup, that was exactly my goal, it's about time they realize I'm not perfect." Monte laughed. "Did you tell her mom first?" Monte asked, Avery shook his head. "No, her text was to tell me she was telling her mom, didn't want one mom calling the other before we had a chance to tell them ourselves you know. Can you imagine how mom would have reacted, had she found out from Gracie's mom?" Monte laughed. "She would have killed you, at least now she's just going to be mad at you for a bit." He shoveled some more food into his mouth. "I thought you and Gracie always used a morning after pill, practically fool proof, you forget?" Avery nodded. "Yeah, the first time I saw her here in Riverside, we got caught up and I left and didn't even think about it. It's alright though, I'm not worried about it." Monte nodded. "Yeah, better you than me, I mean I'm not going away for a year and a half, so in that aspect, I'd be better for it, but you have the drive and the plan and everything else." He cleaned his plate. "I suppose Serena and I should use some sort of protection from here on out, they'd probably kick me out." He nodded toward the kitchen. "You on the other hand, are the golden boy, they'd let you stay here forever, no matter how many kids you bring into the world out of wed lock and with Gracie." He hadn't meant to say it.
Monte's words hurt a little, but he took it with a grain of salt, and passed his plate across the table to him. "I'm not hungry anymore and mom has probably tossed everything else into the trash anyway. I'll make sure to fuck up some more so you get to see how being the golden boy feels." He walked into the kitchen with Monte's empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. "I'm sorry if I upset you, or disappointed you, but in five months I'll be in Texas at Basic and then gone for an entire year, when I come back, I can be a part of your family still or I don't have to be, but I'll be marrying Gracie and taking care of my kid and I'd like you to be a part of it."
"Why Gracie?" Leah asked. "There are tons of girls out there, Avery, you had to pick her." Avery furrowed his brow and clenched his fists. "She's just not right for you. You are so smart and driven and she's just..." She didn't put a name to it, but he knew what she was insinuating. "You could have been with Sara." That name stopped him dead in his tracks. "She..." He bit his tongue and was ready to hit something, he never told his parents about what Sara had done to him, but he knew they had a feeling something not so good had come of their relationship and for her to suggest for him to be with her was worse than Monte's harsh words. "I love Gracie, no matter how much you bad mouth her, or how low you think she is, we don't live in a feudal society anymore, I can love and marry and procreate with anyone I so please. Sure being seventeen and pregnant isn't ideal, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. In nine months you can either be there for Gracie and my unborn child or you won't and it won't make one bit of difference. Have a good night mom, try not to break down on camera tomorrow." He left the kitchen and started out into the cold without his jacket, with no real direction in mind.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 2:40:03 GMT -5
Gracie found herself in the diner, which was where she'd thought she was going, but she didn't quite remember how she'd gotten there. She sat at the bar, sipping on a Heath Bar milkshake and staring at the counter. She didn't really know what to do. She found herself wondering how things had gone with Avery's side of the situation. She guessed it probably wasn't much better, his mother hated her as much as her own mother hated him. She sighed and closed her eyes, setting her head down on the counter. Come to think of it, she probably shouldn't be drinking this milkshake with a baby on the way, but she didn't care. It didn't seem as great as it had earlier. They'd been too optimistic about the whole thing. She licked her lips, trying to imagine what it would be like if they weren't the Romeo and Juliet of Riverside.
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 2:46:17 GMT -5
It had to be some magnetic connection he had with Gracie or something because he wound up at the diner as well. He pulled into the parking lot, slammed his door and hurried inside to beat the cold. He spotted her and a bit of the anger he'd been feeling lifted. "I take it, it didn't go too well." He said as he sat down on the stool next to her. "Didn't go over too well with me either." He put his head down on the counter as well and turned his head so he could still see her. "I love my mom, but sometimes I wish she wasn't."
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 2:58:17 GMT -5
Jumping as he appeared next to her, Gracie lifted her head a bit to shake it in response. "No, it didn't go well at all. She thinks she's trying to protect me, but it's really just the best thing that's ever happened. You I mean... She doesn't see you as a blessing in my life, though. I don't understand," she said lightly as she looked over at him. "I'm sorry. I feel like we hyped this up so much that it had to come crashing down and smash in our faces." She sighed again and sat back up taking a drink of the milkshake. "I feel like there should be a better way to handle this..." She sighed and stared into her chocolate bar, milk conconction.
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 3:08:01 GMT -5
Avery made a face and rested his chin on the counter as he looked forward. "I'm not intentionally going to hurt you. Does she think I'm just going to up and leave and not take care of my responsibilities to you and your baby? Or am I just scum of the earth because I'm a male and have had a lot of things handed to me? I'm good, I promise Gracie, I've messed up in the past, I've had my weak moments, but I'm still optimistic that life for us and this baby are going to be grand with or without our mother's blessings." He sat up as well and turned on the stool so he was fully facing her. "I don't know any better way to handle this than what we're doing or what we've done so far. It's good we told them, at least we're being honest about it. You can go to the doctor, you really don't need your mom there, though I know you probably want her there, and this baby is going to be fine. I'm Mr. Optimistic when it comes to this baby, because I can't see it in a bad light." He wasn't sure if she would agree or see it his way, but he was going to try. "My dad asked me what my plan was and I told him and he didn't really say anything tonight, but I know he'll help me, us."
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 8:43:21 GMT -5
Gracie shrugged and felt the tears flood her eyes. She didn't understand what her mother thought. One minute she was saying how he wouldn't be faithful and the next she was saying he just had things handed to him, which meant he wasn't hard working. She nodded, "I'm not the one you have to convince, Ave, I know all of those things. You don't have to tell me that, my mom is the one that doesn't like you, I'm not doubting you, I promise," she said, shaking her head. "I know we're going to give our baby the best life possible, but it seems hard to do that when his or her grandparents don't approve of them. I know what it feels like to be rejected by your grandparents and trust me, it isn't fun, not after feeling how it feels with one set while the other just doesn't care at all." She looked over at him and smiled lightly, "I don't want her there, is the thing, I don't want her anywhere near the doctors office until I'm having the baby, but I want to know that once I have the baby, she isn't going to hate him or her. I mean, what will I tell our child, Avery? 'Your grandma hates you because she also hates your daddy.'? I just can't do that." She wanted to cry, but she didn't want to do it in a restaurant and especially not at the counter.
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 15:38:38 GMT -5
Avery got off his stool and pulled Gracie into his arms, he held her close and rested his head on top of her shoulder. He didn't know what her mother hated the most about him, or how he could fix it, he'd ask Gracie, but he wasn't sure if she knew and if she did, he really wasn't sure how to ask or if he'd be able to fix it. "I know I don't need to convince you, but I want to reassure you, I'm sure your mom has been feeding you all kinds of bullshit." He paused, he didn't want to accuse Gracie of believing her mother's lies. "I can't say I know how that feels, Gracie, because I've never had to experience it, but if your mom doesn't come around and my mom doesn't come around, we'll just keep him or her away from that atmosphere. My dad can come over and see him or her and that'll be it." He hated to say that, he wanted to promise her, that their mom's would come around and the baby would never know how much he was hated by her mom and vice versa. "Come on, let's go." He didn't want her to cry, but he didn't want her to cry in the middle of a place they would probably frequent often, because if he was her, he would be mortified. "You don't have to tell our child that I'm hated."
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 18:59:56 GMT -5
Gracie sighed and leaned into him as his arms came around her. She sighed and nodded as he spoke. Her mother had tried to feed her bullshit, but none of it she believed, although she didn't think he was accusing her of that. She licked her lips and sighed, "She just doesn't know you and she doesn't want to, but I think I can make her see that you're more than cute and I really do love you, I just have to figure out how..." She sighed softly and nodded, she knew that they could keep their child away from that, but she didn't really want her mother out of her baby's life. She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ear, nodding as he said they should go. "Alright..." She got her wallet out of her small purse and licked her lips, getting the money out, setting the total, plus tip on the counter. She smiled, "Don't worry, I would never tell our child that you're hated."
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 19:25:30 GMT -5
"What about me?" He asked. "What can I do to make her want to know me?" He hesitated for a second. "What exactly doesn't she like about me?" He tried to guess, but he was drawing a blank. Not that he couldn't find characteristics about himself that people might not like, but he couldn't find anything that her mom, having not been around him, would find so unappealing for her daughter. He wanted to stop her from paying, so he could pay for her, but he wasn't sure it was his place. "Thanks, I wouldn't tell our child you're hated either." He put his arm around her. "Are we going to be crabby for the rest of the night, because I'm still high from this news and I don't want my mom's shitty opinion dictate my mood."
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 20:10:08 GMT -5
Gracie shrugged, "I don't know what you could do. Maybe you should just come over or something. Maybe if she's forced to be around you she'll realize that you're a nice guy..." She shook her head lightly. "No, I think she just doesn't really know you. She thinks that you're spoiled because your family has money and in turn she believes that you don't have any work ethic, but you do and I told her that. I don't know..." She sighed lightly again and stood up, leaning into him. She let herself smile with his question and shook her head lightly, "No, we don't have to be crabby all night. I just don't like that my mom doesn't like you... I guess that doesn't matter though... I like you." She looked at him and smiled, "And I'm still happy about the baby too."
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 20:23:28 GMT -5
"Alright, is she home now? Let's go now." He hugged her. "I love you and I like you and I want your mom to like me, but I don't want you to get down if she doesn't like me. I mean it might take her years and a couple of kids before she actually does." He bit his bottom lip. "I had a friend back home whose grandparents were like that with his dad." He shrugged. "Should I bring some sort of evidence with me that I work hard?"
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 21:05:08 GMT -5
Gracie nodded and bit her lip. She nodded, "I guess we could go now. I hope she'll be nice..." She walked out of the restaurant with him and spotted his car in the parking lot. She nodded at his thoughts, "Yeah, I guess that's true. I hope it happens before then, though. I don't want it to be that way for even the first..." She sighed softly and then let out a giggle with his question, "I don't know what you could bring to prove that..."
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Post by Tiff on Jan 25, 2011 21:16:46 GMT -5
Avery laughed. "I don't know either, school records, trophies." He laughed, the idea sounded silly. "I could type up a resume or something, but I think it just sounds silly." He opened her car door for her and then got in. "She's going to be brutal, I just know it." He took a deep breath and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot and drove right to Gracie's apartment.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jan 25, 2011 22:18:43 GMT -5
Gracie laughed at his suggestions. "Oh wow, a resume? That's crazy. It might work, though," she said with another giggle. She shook her head lightly and got into the car. She shrugged again, "Oh, I don't know that she'll be mean to your face, but there's no telling today... She was pretty pissed..." She licked her lips and got out of the car immediately when they pulled up to the apartment complex. She walked around the car and waited for Avery to exit as well. She hugged him when he did. "Thank you. I know you don't want to do this."
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