Pregnant At Sixteen

Reena - No Support from Mom

I've been lying on my bed thinking about what Sheldon just said and he's right, I do need Reed. I should've told him I was pregnant the moment I knew. My hand travels to my belly and I run my hand in a circular motion. Me and Reed, we made a baby.

I smell an aroma coming from the kitchen and my stomach growls. Slipping off the bed I make my way to the kitchen just in time to see my mother chopping vegetables. I watch her from a short distance and I see that even though her hands are trembling, she has a smile in her face., "I just thought it's been a long time since you've had a real cooked home meal." She stops to look at me and I smile.

"Thanks mom."

She nods and bites her lip, continuing the task at hand.

After ten minutes, she sets down a dish of steam broccoli with carrot sticks and another with baked chicken breasts with sweet potatoes. This is the first time in months that she's cooked and I've never appreciated it more, than I do now. She removes her apron, and sits at the small table and I sit next to her.

"Thank you."

She nods and moves to take up her fork then stops and looks at me, "I did this for you mainly because I wanted to talk to you and thought what better way to break the ice than over a good home-cooked meal."

I set my fork down and look at my mother, "Reena, I know I haven't been a good mother as of late, and I know what happened to you is my fault, if I had just been there..."

"Mom it's not your fault," I look down at my empty plate, "you didn't push me."

"Push you?" I look back up and she's staring at me confused, "I'm talking about you getting pregnant."

"Oh, well that's not your fault either. I knew what I was doing and now I'll just have to deal with the consequences."

"Well," She cuts into her chicken breasts and puts it into her mouth, chewing as she looks at me, "it's not too late to get rid of it."

I pause.

"What?"

"Oh don't play dumb Reena." She takes another bite and I stare down at the food, my appetite slipping.

"You can't be serious, I already told you I'm having the baby." The tears are heavy on my eyes and my chest aches.

"Reena," she sighs and wipes at her mouth, "be serious, you're not a child anymore. This child you are carrying is only going to destroy your life."

I get up from the chair. "We're not having this talk."

She gets up too. "Look, I'm just trying to help you. I don't want you throwing your future away. You're too young."

"That's rubbish! You were about the same age when you had me!"

She looks at me sadly, "And look how I turned out."

My heart almost stops at what she says, "You're saying, I'm the reason you're like this?"

She sighs and sits back down in her chair, "I had everything going for me when I was seventeen, everything. Then I got pregnant, and it destroyed all my hopes. If I had the chance you have now−"

"You would've have had an abortion..."

"Now, I didn't say that."

I turn and walk to the stairs, my heart in pieces.