“No there right here,” he said handing them over to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t think you’d have your books with you when I dumped that bucket on you. Are the books alright? Dad said if they’re not we both have to pay for them.”
“I guess I did start it all. It was worth it to see the look on your face when I poured that ice cold water down your back. I just didn’t think you would get me back so bad. And I lost my temper so I’m sorry I jumped on your back and hit you.”
“We’re even. Feeling any better, Seth said you didn’t feel good?”
“Yeah I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch so I was a little light headed.”
“I think you better go to the doctor. You’ve been sick a lot lately.”
“Yeah I think it’s just nerves, with Seth leaving and everything. Today I just didn’t eat enough. You didn’t tell Mom did you?”
“No I didn’t, but if you don’t get better I will,” he threatened.
“Just don’t. I don’t need her hovering around me. I’m trying to get it together when he’s gone. It’s hard though I miss him so much,” she said with tears in her voice.
“I miss you too,” Seth replied from the door way.
She walked over to him put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Can you two do that somewhere else?” Cris pleaded.
“We’re leaving to go to Mr. Grayson’s and then we’ll meet you at the Pizza Shack,” Lia said.
“Fine I won’t be there until after Steph gets off work at 9:30,” Cris replied.
“Good we won’t be there much before that either,” Seth said. “I have to talk to him about some things and it might take a little while.”
“What do you have to talk to him about?” Lia asked.
“Just some things Lia, you’ll be right there,” Seth replied pulling her out of the room. “See ya later, Cris.”
~~*~~
Mr. Grayson was sitting on the swing on his front porch, swinging back and forth waiting for them to get there. When they pulled up he grinned and waved at them. He stood up when they got out of the car, “Nice you see both of you,” he called.
“It’s nice to see you’re doing well, Mr. Grayson. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come over since Seth left; I’ve been so busy with cheerleading and working after school,” Lia apologized.
“Don’t fret about it I understand. You young folk are constantly busy and it’ll stay that way till you retire. That’s when it should be the relaxing time of your life, it was sweet when the Mrs. was with me, but I have to admit it gets lonely now that she’s gone.”
“I’m sorry you’re lonely, I have to make sure I come by and visit you,” Lia responded.
“Let’s go inside and see what you brought for dinner, I’m hungry,” he said.
Seth laughed and followed him into the house carrying take out from the seafood place down the street. The Crab House made the best beer battered fish and chips. Since Seth didn’t eat fish he got the beer battered chicken. “We stopped at the Crab House for supper. We didn’t know if you liked fish or chicken so we brought enough of both,” Seth said.
“I haven’t had food from the Crab House in ages; did you bring the chips too? They are the best around,” Mr. Grayson said.
“Of course you can’t go to there and not get the chips,” Lia laughed. “Where are your plates I’ll get them out?”
“In the middle upper right cabinet, and the silverware is in the drawer on the left side next to the sink,” he replied already digging into the bag to sneak some of the chips before they sat down to eat.
Lia put the plates on the table with the silverware and sat down with them. They all dug into the food that Seth took out of the bags. They ate in silence for a few minutes savoring the food.
Mr. Grayson broke the silence, “So Seth how’s it going up there in New York?”
“Not too bad it’s totally different than here, but I’m getting the hang of it, I guess. I pretty much go to school, practice, and work. The football is going great, school not so much, but then school never went too good for me. Not having my study partner is hard,” he said looking at Lia.
“What partner? I always did your homework for you,” she teased.
“No you didn’t I wrote it myself,” Seth replied laughing.
“Yeah, but I gave you the answers.”
“Whatever, I still passed my tests though.”
Mr. Grayson watched the interaction between the two of them and smiled. They reminded him so much of him and his wife he was chuckling in remembrance.
Seth and Lia stopped and looked at him, “Oh don’t stop, you two reminded me of my wife and me when we were younger. It’s good to see. It takes me back too many wonderful years with her.”
“I hope we have as many years as you and your wife did,” Lia said.
“With a lot of determination you will. It wasn’t always easy; we worked hard at what we had. Don’t ever take her for granted Seth. The same for you Lia don’t take him for granted either,” Mr. Grayson said.
“We won’t,” Lia said. “Or I should say we’ll try not to.”
“Good, good,” he replied. “Now Seth you said on the phone you wanted to talk to me about something. What’s on your mind?”
“When you said I could stay here when I go to college, did you really mean that?” Seth asked.
“Of course I did.”
“Well would it be possible to stay here before that?”
“That would depend on your parents. Why?”
“I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks so they really have no say after that, Mr. Grayson, but the reason why I’m asking,” Seth paused afraid to say more. “Is that Lia might be pregnant and I have to move back here if she is,” he finished and let out a puff of air not realizing that he was holding his breath.
“What do you mean? You can’t leave New York if those scouts are watching you, Seth,” Lia replied.
“Now let’s back up a minute here. You think she might be pregnant. Boy, go to the store and get a pregnancy test and have her take one. Then you’ll know for sure.”
“I have the test already. It’s where she can take it. Her house has too many ears and so does mine. We’re going to my grandparent’s cabin tomorrow no one will be there,” Seth said.
“Nonsense, go take here, when we’re done eating,” he grumbled.
“We don’t want to be a bother,” Lia whispered she was sure he was mad at them.
“No bother, girl, but you need to know,” he said.
“I’ll go get it Lia,” Seth said as he got up to go out the car.
“Mr. Grayson, no matter what it says, please don’t tell anyone. We’re not sure what we’re gonna do yet,” Lia pleaded. “Please don’t be mad at us.”
“I’m not mad, just worried for you two. It’s not my place to tell anyone anything,” he replied.
Seth came back in with a bag containing the pregnancy test. He took Lia’s hand and they both went upstairs to the bathroom. Seth waited outside, pacing back and forth, until Lia opened the door, “We have to wait three minutes, one line not pregnant two lines we are,” she said.
They both stood there watching the window to see how many lines appeared. The three minutes they had to wait felt like an hour. After about a minute the first line appeared.
Chapter 28
They were waiting, waiting, waiting, then at two and a half minutes the other line appeared.
Lia just stared at the window, she felt like her whole world was tossed upside down. She looked at Seth. The shocked look on his face told her his world just flipped upside down too. She felt like throwing up and swayed a little. That took Seth out of his shock and he put his arms around her, “Babe, don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. That’s why I’m here talking to Mr. Grayson. I’ll be here for you; I’m not staying in New York, now.”
“Seth we can’t tell anyone! And you’re staying in New York, at l
east until the end of football. If we decide to keep this baby we’ll need that scholarship more now than ever.”
“What do you mean, if we keep the baby? Are you planning to get rid of it?” Seth asked through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what we’re doing. You didn’t tell me what you wanted to do. I’m not a mind reader,” she cried.
“Babe I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said hugging her to him. “We have a lot to talk about. You’re the one who has to carry it and will be the one taking care of it most of the time, so it is your decision.”
“What do you mean I’ll be taking care of it most of the time?”
“Nothing I say is coming out right,” he moaned. “What I meant is while I’m working and going to school you’ll have to be the main caregiver. When I’m home I’ll help as much as I can.”
“We both have to go to school and work to support us. I’m not living at my parent’s house. This is going to be crazy once they find out,” Lia said listlessly.
“Babe, we don’t have to decide everything tonight. We better go down and tell Mr. Grayson,” Seth said.
“You go I need a few minutes,” she said.
“Lia, you alright?”
“No Seth I’m not. This just blew all our plans for the future,” she whimpered.
“We’ll make new plans if we have to,” he said.
“Just go down to him, I’ll be down in a minute.”
~~*~~
Seth walked into the dining room where Mr. Grayson was waiting. He took one look at Seth’s face and he knew the outcome of the pregnancy test. “Positive, huh?” he asked.
“Yep, and I don’t know if she’s gonna have it,” Seth said near tears.
“You want the responsibility of raising a child? You two aren’t much older than children yourselves. Think real hard on that Seth. It’s not something to take lightly. You have to be there for the child as well as Lia. The nine months she’ll be pregnant will be hard on her. She’s young and a cheerleader, her body will be changing and in her eyes not for the better. Both of you need to take time and think about what you want. If you both decide to have it you are more than welcome to stay here with me.”
“Yeah I want the baby. It’s part of both of us. It was conceived out of love. No matter how corny it sounds it was,” Seth said disheartened.
“It’s not corny,” Lia said from the door way. “I want to keep it too, Seth. I’m afraid my parents will make me either get rid of it or give it away.”
“They can’t make you do either of those things, Lia, it’s against the law,” Mr. Grayson said.
“I’m not eighteen till next year, Mr. Grayson,” Lia said miserably.
“This ultimately is your decision, Lia, no one else’s,” Mr. Grayson said.
“It’s Seth’s too,” Lia said.
“Only if you want it to be his decision. This rests on your shoulders and no one can take that away from you, not your parents, not his parents, and not Seth. While he can fight you in court, the father usually doesn’t win. Now if you decide to give it up for adoption the father can take the baby and raise it himself.”
“How do you know so much?” Lia asked.
“He’s a lawyer, Lia,” Seth said.
“Not anymore I retired.”
“You’re still a lawyer. If we need you would you represent us if her parents give us a hard time,” Seth asked.
“First you have to tell them and see what happens. Give them the chance to do the right thing and stand by you two. You both have a lot to discuss in the next few days. I would tell them as soon as your mind is made up. Now Seth about you moving in here, when did you want to do that?”
“After the football season is over,” Lia said. “I want him to stay in New York and see if he can get a football scholarship, we’ll need it now.”
“That’s a very good idea, Lia, but by the look on Seth’s face I don’t think he thinks so.”
“You can’t move till you turn eighteen in two weeks. Football is over three weeks later. I’ll still be pregnant for eight more months after that. You won’t miss much except me being sick,” Lia laughed. “Please for me and the baby, stay in New York till the end of football.”
“She really does have a point there, Seth, listen to her,” Mr. Grayson said. “Why don’t we get together next week and see what you two have decided.”
“We don’t have to leave yet,” Lia said.
“Aren’t you two going to hang out with your friends tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah later on, we have time to spend here,” Lia said.
“We’ll go upstairs then. Seth you can choose which room you want to stay in and you can fix it up any way you want,” Mr. Grayson said.
“It doesn’t matter which one and I’m not gonna change the room,” Seth said.
“Come on let’s go look,” Lia said.
Walking up the stairs they followed Mr. Grayson. Once they got on the second floor he said, “There are three rooms you can choose from down this way.” Opening the first door they walked in. “This was my son’s room.” The room was a nice size and was furnished with a full size bed, a dresser, and a night stand.
They walked out of that one and went into another down the hallway further. There was no furniture in this one. It was about the same size as the other except there was an alcove with three windows, and a closet was along the one wall to the right side of the room. The alcove made the room seem larger. “This is the one you should use, Seth. All your things will fit in here and you don’t have to move anything out,” Lia said.
“Yeah you’re right I like this room. If it’s ok with you, Mr. Grayson I’d like to use this one,” Seth said.
“Whichever one you want, you can paint the walls, they sorely need it,” he said looking at them.
“I don’t want to change anything in your house,” Seth said.
“Oh you would be doing me a favor if you painted. This house needs work and I can’t do it anymore.”
“We’ll help you with it as much as we can,” Lia said. “I’ll stop at the store and get some paint chips and we can look at them together, Mr. Grayson. We don’t want to pick out any colors you might object to.”
“That’s fine, Lia,” he said.
“We can paint the other rooms to, the hallway, and even downstairs if you want us to,” Lia offered. “I know we can have some friends come over and have a painting party. Of course it will have to be after football season, but I bet we can get a bunch of kids over here, if that’s ok with you, Mr. Grayson?”
Smiling he said, “First start calling me Jerry, Mr. Grayson is too formal. Second that’s a wonderful idea this house needs a fresh coat of paint and new life into it, and I think the two of you will bring both of that to it.”
“Mr. Grayson, oh sorry Jerry, how much do you want in rent for the room?” Seth asked.
“Nothing, I never said there was a rent. You’ll be doing all the work around here with the painting I couldn’t ask you for any money.”
“I’m not living here for free. I want to give you something every month,” Seth said.
“We’ll discuss it later, and for the first three months it’s free for all the painting you’ll be doing. If other repairs are needed and you can fix them we’ll take that off the rent also. And as you can see this house needs a lot of work.” Mr. Grayson said.
‘It just needs some attention and the wood needs a good polishing, but other than that it seems to be in good condition,” Lia said.
“Jerry I want a price for the rent, if I do anything other than paint around here then we’ll discuss what to take off the rent. Now I can pay you weekly or monthly that’s up to you,” Seth demanded.
“Ok then fifty dollars.”
“A week, that’s fine,” Seth said.
“No a month,” Mr. Grayson said. “You’ll need to save your money for college and the baby. I don’t need your money, Seth I hav
e plenty of my own. I had no intention of charging you anything from the beginning. It’ll be payment enough to have someone to talk to and not be so lonely all the time. While you’re here I want you to treat this house like your own.”
“Thank you for letting me stay here, before college. It takes a lot off my mind just knowing when the time comes I’ll have a place near Lia.”
“You’re welcome. Do you know when you’re going to tell your parents about the baby?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I might wait until after they can’t force me to get an abortion,” Lia said.
“I don’t recommend that. I’d tell them soon, after the two of you have decided what you’re going to do. You still have a year of high school left. What are you going to do about a babysitter while you’re at school and working?”
“I don’t know yet. We have to see where Seth goes to college, what his classes are going to be, and I can take a work study and go to school half days and work the other half. I have most of my credits to graduate now, so next year I won’t have to take that many. I won’t be cheerleading next year they won’t let me on the squad, and I don’t want to be on it. I want to spend time with my baby.
“So it sounds like you two made one decision already to keep it,” Mr. Grayson said.
“Yeah we have,” Seth said pulling Lia close to him.
“Good, good it’ll be hard, but I think the two of you can pull it off. Just remember to be there of each other and it’ll all work out. Don’t stop your dreams push forward harder and attain them for your sake and the baby’s.”
“We will, that’s why I want Seth to stay in New York and finish the football season,” Lia said.
“Lia I won’t be able to accept a scholarship to a college far away from here. You have another year of high school and I won’t be away from you or the baby for a year. There are universities around here that are good and I can get my business degree at. Football will just take more time away from you.”
“I have a friend who’s the athletic director at one of the university around here. Let me make a few phones calls to see if we can get you a scholarship to play for them. I can’t guarantee anything, but it won’t hurt to ask,” Mr. Grayson said.
“That would be great,” Lia said. “What do you think Seth?”