‘Sounds serious. You OK, honey?’ her dad asked, leaning forward in his chair. Where his wife was small and slim, he was a tall and bulky man, physically impressive. Vanessa had always likened him to a tree; strong, roots that ran deep; her mother, the water that nourished him.

She cleared her throat. Once she said the words out loud, there was no going back. ‘I… uh… I’m pregnant.’ She stammered over the words, seeing the shocked expressions on her parents’ faces. Identical.

Her mom placed her knife and fork neatly down on the place. ‘What?’ she asked, a slightly confused look settled on her features.

She looked toward her dad. ‘I’m having a baby.’ She tried again.

Her mom opened her mouth to speak, but her dad cut in quickly. ‘Whose baby is it?’ he asked. He didn’t demand; actually, he, they, were taking it pretty well so far.

This was the question she had dreaded. Whose baby was it? She sighed, a sound that was pulled out from deep within her. ‘It’s Mark’s.’ In for a penny, right?

‘Mark as in Maggie’s Mark? That Mark?’ Her mom’s face fell, and it was like a searing knife through Vanessa’s heart.

‘Yes, Mom, Maggie’s Mark. We’re in love.’ She thought it an easier sell than a one-night stand that resulted in a teen pregnancy. A kindness to them all. A white lie that eased the pain.

‘I don’t understand,’ her mom said, trying to wrap her head around the bombshells. ‘You and Mark are in love? Sweetheart, when did all this happen? I didn’t even know they’d broken up.’

‘They broke up today. We told her just before, actually. She slapped me and I deserved it.’

Her mom’s face darkened. No one hurt her daughter like that, no matter how deserving she was of it. She abhorred physical violence, calling it the lowest form of humanity. Vanessa had once heard snippets of a conversation with her dad where she’d spoken about the abuse in her own home as a child.

‘That was uncalled for.’

‘No, Mom, it wasn’t. I had it coming, and I accept that. I hurt her.’

‘And what does your “love” plan to do about this?’ interrupted her dad. ‘He should marry you. You need to be married. You’ve almost finished school; give this baby a chance to grow up normally.’ Her dad sometimes didn’t get her or the situation, but she could see that he was trying to hold his temper in check.

‘Knowing Mark’s parents, I’m sure they’d say the same.’ Vanessa lowered her eyes, unable to take their scrutiny any longer. ‘He’ll do the right thing, Dad,’ she whispered. Yes, she loved Mark, despite the way he’d treated her, and odds were that she’d be married and, of course, a mom in a few short months.