“Ben?” The voice was one of the Sanders twins. But from the ominous tone, she wasn’t calling for the expected booty call.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Abbie. Uh, we need to talk to you. Can you come over right now?”
Whatever was going on, getting out of the house sounded like a good idea. So I answered immediately, “I’ll be right over.”
My first indication that something was wrong was that the Sanders twins were wearing baggy clothing that totally obscured their nubile bodies. It was cool in the house, but not cold enough to justify thick fleece pajama pants and long-sleeved tops. More telling were the obvious bra straps. The twins did not have sex on their minds.
Also telling were the frightened looks in their eyes. Abbie escorted me into the living room where Allie was curled up on the couch and I seated myself into a chair facing them. The girls wouldn’t look me in the eye and we just kind of stared off for a few seconds before I leaned forward and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Allie burst into tears just then, Abbie frowned and looked at her sister, and neither girl responded immediately. I bit my lip and looked back and forth between them, trying to understand what the hell was going on. And then Allie got her sobbing under control just enough to blurt, “I’m pregnant!”
My eyes went wide. My hands felt clammy. And then I felt a dizzy sensation as inky blackness clouded over my vision and I surrendered myself to the blissful vacuum of unconsciousness.
I woke up on the floor to see Abbie hovering on top of me, waving a magazine in my face while I blinked rapidly. Somewhere behind her, I could still hear Allie crying. But Abbie had her focus on me as she asked, “You okay?”
I blinked a few more times and then grunted, “I think so.” She backed away as I gingerly sat up and rubbed my head. Looking to my left, I saw that Allie was sobbing quietly with both her hands over her face. My mouth went dry and I remembered the last words she had spoken. And to Abbie, I asked, “Is she really pregnant?”
Abbie sighed. “She’s more than a week late now. I’ve already finished my period. We had her take two different home tests. They both came up positive.”
“How?” I croaked.
Abbie rolled her eyes. “Well, you were there, remember? I think you know the how, Ben,” she practically spat. “After all, this is YOUR fault!”
“MY fault?”
“You didn’t bring any condoms!” Abbie yelled at me.
“I haven’t used a condom in months!” I yelled back as I elevated myself back up and onto the couch. “You were the ones planning this! You could have gotten on the pill!”
“We didn’t have time! It was all so last second and as the boy, you should be prepared!” Abbie growled.
“It’s YOUR body. Protect yourself. I was willing to back out, but you guys said you were safe!” I pointed a finger at Abbie and she blanched. “YOU told me you were safe! Three days until your period, right? Turned out more like seven, didn’t it? Or in Allie’s case, nine months!”
Now Abbie cringed. “Well… I… I didn’t think anything would happen. All the books we read said we’d only be fertile for a couple of days right in the middle!”
Allie just started bawling even louder. “Aaaaawwwwwwnnnnnggghhh!”
I winced and put my face in my hands. “What do we do?”
“You’re asking ME?” Abbie cried. “YOU’RE supposed to tell US what we’re supposed to do! You’re the big stud!”
“No one ever got pregnant!” I yelled back.
“AAAAAHHH!!!” Allie wailed so loud it got both our attentions. And only then did my panic subside enough for my protective instinct to kick in. I ignored Abbie and scooted right up to Allie, quickly wrapping the small girl up in my arms and rocking her back and forth like a baby.
Allie shrunk away from me for a split-second, enough for me to consider letting go, but then she huddled herself more closely into my embrace and buried her face against my chest.
“Shh…” I soothed. “I’m here, I’m here. We’ll work this out.”
Abbie put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “How?”
I waved my hand up and down impatiently. “I don’t know yet.”
“She CAN’T have a baby, Ben,” Abbie insisted and Allie wailed at the very thought. “She’s too young. We have plans. Are you ready to be a daddy?”
I winced. “Not really.”
“Do you want to marry Allie and settle down?”
“Well…” I drawled. I had no emotional feelings for Allie other than friendship and yeah, a little lust for her cute body. But marriage? “Let’s think this through.”
Allie bawled, “I’m not ready!”
“Okay, okay, Allie,” I rubbed her back. “We have options.”
Abbie just set her mouth into a hard line and glared at me. And then she reached in and forcefully started tugging her little sister away from me. “You’re right, Ben. We’re the girls. It’s about OUR lives and OUR bodies. So they’re OUR options to discuss. Come on, Allie. Ben was just leaving.”
Allie was still whimpering as Abbie pulled her from my grasp. I let go, looked up, and complained, “Don’t I have a say in this?”
“Just get out, Ben. We’ll talk about this and make a decision,” Abbie glared as she started urging her sister away and out of the living room.
I set my jaw and looked at her earnestly. “Abbie, I’ll do the right thing. I want to do the right thing. I’ll support her. I’ll pay medical costs. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
For the first time since I arrived, Abbie’s expression towards me softened. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “I believe you would, Ben. But we need to talk about this more. We called you just minutes after we got the results from the pregnancy tests, and we haven’t had time to let it all sink in.”
I bit my lip and Abbie sighed, still holding a crying Allie against her shoulder. Then Abbie looked over at me and said, “Go home, Ben. Calm down and think it over. Come back tomorrow morning. We’ll talk then.”
And then Abbie led her twin sister away.
The shiny Jetta pulled into the driveway as the garage door went up. The driver saw me sitting on the front steps and she waved before going inside and lowering the garage door.
A minute later, the front door swung open. Keira folded her arms over her chest, leaning against the door jamb and smiling at me. “Hi, Ben.”
“Uh, hey,” I stammered and looked at the floor.
She immediately stepped closer and put her hand on my shoulder. “Ben, what’s wrong?”
“I, uh… I think I’m in a little bit of trouble,” I frowned.
Keira nodded in sympathy and waved me inside, directing me towards the living room. I sat on the couch. She took a wing chair opposite me and leaned forward. “So what kind of trouble are you into, Ben?”
I bit my lip and stared downward. Twice, I started saying “I…” Both times, I couldn’t actually get the words out. It was as if saying them would make it more… real. And I didn’t want it to be real.
She waited for me patiently, and eventually I managed to blubber, “I got a girl pregnant.”
Keira’s eyes flew open and she put a hand over her mouth to cover her gasp of surprise. But she recovered quickly and leaned over, grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently. Her eyebrows furrowed as she ran through a gamut of questions in her head before asking, “May I ask who?”
“Allie… Allison Sanders. She’s a girl in my class at school.”
Keira nodded her head up and down as she searched through her memory. I’d talked about my friends with her a few times and she had a vague sense of the girls around me. “She has a twin sister?”