Page 65 of Classroom Confessions

“Sit down.” Rebecca kept pulling on her dad’s arm until he released Ethan.

He let go just in time. Ethan’s temper frayed at the edges, and even from across the room, I saw the sheer willpower it took for him to move away from Rebecca and take a seat.

Moving in slow motion, we all sank into the furniture. Rebecca pushed her dad down on the couch and drew Carrie over with a crook of her fingers. “You two sit there. I’m going to sit with them.” She motioned at us, and I realized we’d taken up a defensive position in the chairs that faced the couch. Rebecca came over to my seat and lowered herself to the arm. “I’m going to tell you the whole story. You’re going to listen without interruption. Once I’m done, you can ask questions.”

Pride soared through me. She handled the situation with concern but held her ground. She'd earned her parents’ respect and their attention, and both nodded their agreement.

She told them everything. Things I didn’t even know, like her arguments with Ethan during class and how that led their to falling in love. She enraptured me with the story of love despite the circumstances. If I’d not lived it alongside her, I might think the whole thing a make believe tale. She picked up my hand and laced our fingers together. “I’ve fallen in love with all three of them. It’s not conventional. Maybe it’s not logical. But it’s real and it’s powerful. Even though there are risks to their careers, they’ve chosen me. I don’t want them to suffer because they love me. That’s not fair to any of us. But life isn’t always fair.” With a side glance at me and then Cole, she forged ahead. “You also need to know that I’m pregnant.”

Stunned silence was the only way to describe the looks on Harold and Carrie’s faces. Harold leaned forward, his hands on his knees. “Who’s the father?”

Rebecca’s tiny head shake warned us all not to say we didn’t know. We’d worry about that later.

Ethan took her other hand and Cole stood, moving behind her and cupping her shoulders in his palms.

“We’re in this together.” Cole looked over her head. “Rebecca wanted you to hear this from her. She’s an amazing woman, and I love her enough to give up anything it takes to keep her in my life. Nothing is more important to me than her safety and her happiness.”

Agreed. I’d been falling in love with her every day since we met, but hearing her defend us today was the final hammer blow. I wasn’t just in love. I was head over heels with a desperate desire to make sure we had forever together.

In the quiet of the living room, with pictures of Rebecca’s life through the years plastered over the walls and her parents staring us down with looks that alternated between shock and fear, I spun my way out of the chair and dropped to my knees in front of Rebecca.

Realization came slowly, her eyes widening in increments. “David?”

Now might be the worst possible time, but my feelings demanded that I not wait. “Cole’s right. We’re in this together. I love you. I’d give you anything and everything. I’d carry the world on my back to make life easier for you. You’ve given me the missing piece of my heart. Will you marry me?”

32

REBECCA

Saying yes perched on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to say it, to drop my arms around David’s neck and tell him I’d love nothing more than to marry him. I had no idea what the future held for us, but I knew with every fiber of my being that we belonged together. As much as I hated myself for the thought, marrying David would solve so many of our problems. Even though it would still cause a scandal at the college, we might be looked at in a better light if we had rings on our fingers.

Silence stretched so taut it sucked the air from the room. I should want to marry him out of love, not obligation. He stared up at me, his gaze earnest. Our time in my bedroom together flashed through my mind. We could have more of that. All of us together. His proposal was a spur of the moment decision. He hadn’t thought it through and there wasn’t a ring in sight.

Carrie said she left him because he never showed any emotion. What damage would I do if I said no after this vivid display? Its being spur of the moment and right in front of Carrie set my self-preservation nerves jangling. Did he really mean it or was he trying to prove a point? God, I hated that I had no real way of knowing.

Carrie lunged upward from her seat and threw herself across the room. I’d never appreciated her effervescent personality more than in that moment when she squealed and lunged between me and David. “I’m going to be a grandmother.” She hugged me until I lost my breath and patted her back. “How far along are you?”

“Six weeks.” I caught Dad staring at me and forced out a smile that eased the lines around his eyes. “My OB recommended that I wait to tell anyone, but I wanted you to know.”

“Oh, they always warn you to wait.” Carrie swatted at the air before pulling me into another bone-crushing hug.

David sat back on his heels, then stood. Ethan and Cole joined him. They looked out of place, almost awkward, as Dad approached. He still held himself rigid, like he didn’t know whether he wanted to punch them or congratulate them. I understood. It was still confusing for all of us.

Carrie’s excitement and bubbly personality—along with her rapid acceptance—brought the tension down to a tolerable level. She pulled me across the room and pushed me into Dad’s arms. “Tell her congratulations, Harold. There’s nothing we can do about this. It’s better for everyone if we accept it and make the best of the situation.”

Dad hugged me tightly but let me go quickly. He held me at arm’s length. “Are you happy?”

My gaze threatened to drift over to Cole and the others, but I held Dad’s eyes with my own, willing him to see the honesty as I answered. “It’s confusing right now with the possibility that they’ll lose their jobs, but I’m happy. I’ve never been happier, Dad.”

He took his time responding. His jaw worked as he took in the whole situation, chewing it over with that slow precision I’d always appreciated from him growing up. He rarely let anger take control, and then only when he worried that I was in trouble. “If you’re happy, then I’ll find a way to accept it.” He stared over my head and the lines reappeared around his eyes. “It might take me some time. You’ve really surprised me with this one.” The slightest hint of disapproval tightened my grip on his arms. He brought me in close for another hug. “I love you, kiddo. That will never change.”

Relief brought tears to my eyes. I’d trusted them to believe in me, but seeing it in action was different from the voices in my head trying to reassure me.

“What are you hoping for? Boy or girl?” Carrie’s question slid into the moment, startling me back.

Cole’s wide grin, the one I’d come to love and appreciate so much, stretched his cheeks. “One of each.”

Carrie’s brows pinched. “I don’t understand.”

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