Fourteen and Pregnant

Getting To Know Tiffany

After mom told me that dad was really leaving, I kind of broke down. I just wanted to cry and not do anything else. I kind of felt like someone had just shot me in the chest. I really didn’t want to believe her because both mom and dad once told me that they believed if you got married you should stay with that person for the rest of your life. Now they were both going against something they believed in and it hurt.

I wasn’t really blaming my mom for anything though because she didn’t have anything to do with it. It was all my dad’s fault.

The next day, I was in my room thinking, and my phone started ringing.

“Hello?” I sniffled into the phone.

“Lexi? Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, it doesn’t sound like you. This is Meagan.”

“Yeah, I know. Caller ID is a wonderful thing. You should try it sometime.”

Meagan never used caller idea. She told me in 8th grade that she didn’t use it because she liked guessing who was calling and Caller ID took all the fun out of it.

“Yeah, whatever. Hey, you know that mover guy who I thought looked familiar?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“Well, I was looking through that photo album of my mom and I saw him with my mom while she was pregnant.”

“Huh-uh. You’re not serious are you?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. Well, anyway, I didn’t really know who he was. I thought maybe he was like, an uncle that I had never seen before or something. So I pulled the picture out thinking maybe there was something on the back of the picture because my mom always wrote dates and who was in the picture on the back.”

“And? Was there something?”

“Yeah. It said, ‘Me and Devin waiting for our beautiful baby girl to be born.’”

“What?” I was shocked by what she said.

“That’s exactly what I said. I think that man was my father.”

“I don’t know. I mean, that seems kind of weird seeing him yesterday and then just happening to see that picture. Are you sure it was him? He was 15 years younger there. Maybe you just want to know who your dad is so bad that you made yourself believe it was him.”

“I’m almost positive it was him. Yesterday, when he came in, he told me and your mom that his name was Devin. What are the odds of that Lexi? Do you still think it’s just my mind playing tricks on me?” Her voice sounded somewhat mad.

“No, I’m sorry. Maybe you aren’t just imagining things. Are you gonna do anything to find out if it was actually him?”

“I’m gonna call the moving company that my aunt used and ask for him. Then, I’m gonna start asking him questions and hopefully I’ll find out if it really is him or not.”

“That’s good. I’m happy for you.” My voice dropped a little bit.

“Is there something wrong with you? You’ve seemed depressed ever since I got on the phone with you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“It’s something Lexi. I can tell by the tone of your voice.”

“Ok. Well, you know how there were boxes in the living room yesterday?”

“Yeah?”

“They were my dad’s. After you left, my mom told me that he’s leaving.”

“Leaving? As in, your parents are getting a divorce?”