CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NOAH
I feel terrible about blindsiding Allie with this meeting, but I did leave her a message. Smiling up at Jordan and Margie, I tell them, “Please, sit down.”
Even though their chairs are next to each other, their body language indicates they couldn’t be farther apart. I look at Allie and tell her, “In the message you didn’t hear, I told you that Jordan and Margie were going to be joining us.”
Allie looks uncomfortable but instead of getting weird, she smiles kindly at the kids. “How are you guys doing?”
“Awful,” they answer in unison. Their mirrored response allows enough levity that they both smile a little.
“You have a lot going on,” Allie tells them.
Margie, who clearly resembles her siblings with their dark wavy hair, grimaces. “My parents pretty much hate me.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true,” I tell her. “This has to be a shock for them.”
“My parentsdohate me,” Jordan offers. I can see how he feels that way. After all, I was there when he told them what was going on.
“Have you two had a chance to make any decisions?” I ask them.
They glance at each other covertly out of the corner of their eyes. Margie is the first to answer. “Not really. The last thing I knew, Jordan broke up with me. I was surprised when he asked me to meet him here.”
“Margie,” Jordan says with not only sadness but a touch of longing in his voice, “I love you. I didn’t want to break up with you. In fact, I never would have considered it if you weren’t … you know…” He gestures toward her stomach.
“That’s a really crappy thing to say,” she declares heatedly. “If you love a person, you don’t abandon them when they need you the most. Especially when the circumstances are half your fault.”
“You’re right.” His head droops hangdog low. “I called because I want to figure out what we’re going to do.”
“You just want me to get an abortion,” she tells him angrily. “And I told you that I don’t want that. I don’t judge other people who do, but I don’t believe in it for me.” She’s quick to add, “Certainly not when the baby was made out of love.”
“Your parents want you to get an abortion, too,” he tells her, obviously trying not to be the only bad guy in this scenario.
“I’m my own person, Jordan. Heck, as of yesterday, I’m old enough to vote so I’m old enough to decide if I’m going to keep this baby.”
What a horrible way to celebrate your eighteenth birthday. Even though it’s currently the least important thing, I tell Margie, “Happy birthday.”
It’s clear we’re both looking for a way to defuse the tension at the table when Allie asks, “Did you do anything fun to celebrate?”
Margie’s dark brown eyes fill with tears. “I threw up the first half of the day, and my parents yelled at me the second half.” We all sit quietly for a moment, absorbing her unhappiness, when she adds, “All I know is that I’m going to keep this baby and that means I have to move out of my house.” With tears flowing freelynow, she adds, “My parents told me they’ll keep me on their health insurance until the baby is born, but afterwards I’m on my own.”
I know Margie and Jordan’s situation happens all the time, I’ve just never really thought about how hard it must be to go through without the support of your parents.
Allie asks, “When are you due, Margie?”
“July,” the teenager answers. “I’m six weeks pregnant now.”
Allie sighs loudly before saying, “I’m not trying to be insensitive, but a lot of pregnancies spontaneously end on their own in the first trimester.”
Jordan looks positively thrilled by this news, but Margie does not. “While I wish I wasn’t pregnant, I don’t want the baby to die,” she says. For added effect, she stares at her ex-boyfriend and adds, “Especially not by my doing.”
Jordan reaches over to take Margie’s hand, and I’m surprised she lets him. I suppose it’s a testimony to how badly she needs to feel like someone is in her corner.
Allie takes a sip from her cup before giving her full attention to Margie. “I know you don’t want your pregnancy to end, but we don’t always have a say. I think it might be best to take things one day at a time.”
Margie shakes her head which causes her curls to sway back and forth. “I feel so alone. My parents hate me, and they hate my baby. I wish I could just move out now and get some space so I can think.”
“Do you have a friend’s house you could stay at?” Allie asks her.
