Filed to story: Love on the Sidelines (Natalie & Karl)
One of them deposited several coins into the tampon machine on the wall and turned the knob. “Boy, it’s just my luck to start tonight. Now I’ll be bloated and cramping all evening.”
“Well, at least you caught it before it ruined your dress,” her friend replied.
Idly, I did some mental calculations. It seemed like it had been quite a while since I’d had my monthly. Hadn’t it been due the day I’d talked to my father about Karl? But that was a little over two weeks ago, and I was never late. Slowly, I lowered the hand holding the paper towel and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Karl hadn’t left me alone after all, I thought, stunned. I was pregnant. His child was growing inside me. A slow-building excitement gripped me. I was going to have Karl’s baby, a baby that would be mine forever, a part of him no one could take away.
Dazed, I wandered out of the restroom and sat down on the first chair I came to. I don’t know how long I was there before Hugh found me. When he waved a hand in front of me, I blinked, then focused on his face. Oh, God. I’d forgotten about Hugh.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes, but we need to talk.” It was way past time to put this charade to an end. I didn’t want to hurt him, but he would know the truth soon anyway. Everyone would know, I realized. My chin went up. Well, they could think what they wanted, but they better not let me hear any of their gossip. No one was going to treat our child the way people had treated Karl.
Hugh took my hand and helped me stand. “Where do you want to talk?”
“Outside.”
The night air was much warmer than the ballroom had been, but I wasn’t hot anymore. I felt better than I had since Karl left. I had a reason to go on now.
We walked to Hugh’s car in silence and leaned against the side. It was beautiful out, the moon big and full. I glanced at Hugh, trying not to remember a similar night, a rusty pickup, a dirt-covered country road, and a fifteen-year-old boy.
“We can’t keep going like this, Hugh,” I told him softly. “You don’t love me. Both of us have been letting our parents push us along. We should have stopped it a long time ago.”
He was staring down at the ground, hands tucked into his pockets. “Why now?” I took a deep breath and faced him. “Because now I’m pregnant. Everyone will know it soon.”
His gaze lifted, his face expressionless as he studied me. “Is it Karl’s?”
“You knew about us?”
A wry smile turned up the corners of his lips. “Yeah. I saw the way you looked at each other that night at the gas station.”
“I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say something?”
He shrugged. “I guess I kept hoping things would change. Can you reach him, let him know?”
“No.” I turned away. I’d already tried to find out where he was stationed, but the sheriff was the only one who knew where Karl had been sent and he wasn’t talking.
“He made it pretty clear he wasn’t coming back and told me to forget about him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. Maybe leave town. I can’t put my family through this again. It would kill them. But I won’t give up my baby either.”
“How far along are you?”
“About a month, I think.” I wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, but I owed him the answers to any questions he asked.
It got quiet again, the only sound coming from the traffic out on the highway.
“You’re wrong about one thing, you know,” Hugh said finally. “It might not be the kind of grand, world-stopping passion you want, but I do love you. I have since we were kids.” Slowly, he pulled his hand out of his pocket and opened it. In his palm 92 rested a blue velvet box, and my eyes filled with tears when he showed me the sparkling diamond ring inside.
“I was going to do this later, but there’s no sense in waiting.”
“Hugh…” My tears spilled over and ran freely down my cheeks.
“Please, let me finish.” He took a deep breath. “You need a husband and the baby will need a father. I’m asking you to let me be both. Natalie, will you do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. “But the baby isn’t yours,” I stuttered.
“It will be if you let it.” He shrugged. “And everyone will think it is, anyway. Let them think it, Natalie. I swear, I’ll love it like it was mine.” He wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Think about it. We can get married tonight and no would ever have to know the truth. Your family won’t be disgraced, you won’t have to leave, and the baby will never have people looking down on it. We can even have the justice of the peace backdate the marriage certificate so everyone will think we were married secretly months ago.”
“A J.P. would do that?”
This time his smile was full-fledged. “I know one who will. My family spends a lot of money on his campaigns.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Do you care about me at all, Natalie?”