Unexpected (PUBLISHED)

Chapter Forty: Jake

I sat at the kitchen table endlessly staring at the letter in my hands. It was a letter from Princeton. I have been accepted. No one else was home when I opened the letter. Paul was at work and mom and Marissa were having a girls day while Anna was at the sitter's. I rubbed my temple in a continuous clock-wise pattern. The letter nearly wrinkling at my hard touch. You have been accepted into Princeton University. I reread the opening sentence of the letter over and over again. 
  "Hey, Jake," I heard Marissa say from the door to the kitchen. I was so focused on the letter in my hand that I barely noticed they came home. "What do you got there?"
  I gulped before moving the letter over so she can see it. I can't keep anything from her, especially this. "I applied to Princeton and I-"
  "You got in," She cut me off. I just nodded. "Jake, why didn't you tell me you applied?"
  I shrugged. "Because I didn't think I would get in."
  She sat down beside me and took my hand. "I am so proud of you. This is huge."
  I leaned my head down and shook my head. "I can't go." I paused for a moment before looking over at her. "I can't leave you right around the time where you can go into labor any second."
  She shook her head and squeezed my hand. "We'll figure this all out."
  "When do you have to let them know you're going?" Mom asked from behind me.
  "February." I paused and pushed the acceptance letter away from me. "I'm not going." They looked at me in surprise. "All the doctors are here and the travel expenses will just be too much. I'll only be home for holidays and I might miss the birth of my child. I don't want to risk that."
  "We can figure something out. We can move. You can take a semester off."
  I shook my head to stop her. "I just have to think about it." I picked up the letter and walked outside onto the porch, taking a seat on the worn down old swing. The letter just sat in my lap as I watched the snow fall and the plows attempting to clear up the streets. I remember when my mom and I first moved into our own house, a small cottage style house, during snow days we would build a snow fort and a snowman in the front yard before heading inside and making some hot chocolate. 
 I saw one kid shoveling his driveway down the street but then lost his temper when the plow brought more snow onto the end of his driveway. All this is making me remember that it's my turn to shovel the driveway.
  I was just about to stand up to go fetch the snow shovel from the side of the porch when I heard the front door open and close. It was my mom wrapped in a wool blanket and holding two coffee cups filled with hot chocolate. "I got you something," She said and handed me one of the cups before we both took a seat on the porch swing. She pulled the wool blanket so it was on my lap and hers.
  "Thanks, mom," I said and took a sip out of my mug, just staring out ahead. 
  "How are things going at school?" She suddenly asked taking me off guard.
  I shrugged. "School is school."
  "No one's giving you and Marissa a hard time, right?"
  I shook my head in response. "Only Hilly and Robbie know. The rest of the school is completely clueless as always."
  She nodded and pointed a finger at the letter. "May I see that?"
  "Sure," I said with a nod and handed it to her.
  She looked over it for a while before handing it back. "This is a huge opportunity. This is really something to think about."
  I sighed and threw my head back with a groan. "Since when did my life get so goddamn difficult?"
  "Since you forgot to listen to my protection talk. The talk I've been giving you since you were old enough to understand."
  I sighed again and covered my face with the palms of my hands. "I am such an idiot."
  She put a hand on my back and rubbed soft circles over the fabric. "You are not an idiot. You're eighteen-years-old."
  I scoffed and looked over at her, a tear in my eye. "First, I'm told I'm going to be a teenage father. Second, dad walks into my life. This is not my year. I'm a senior. I should be getting ready for graduation and getting ready for finals. But, instead, I'm going to be a father." I lean back with a scoff and crossed my arms firmly over my chest. "Why is my life such a mess? I didn't do anything wrong."
  "Well, life has a way of throwing us curve balls sometimes. The one thing we have to do is decide if we should catch it or let it go."
  I shook my head slowly at her. "I don't think I fully understood what you just said."
  "It's about catching the impossible. You can do anything you set your mind to. Even with all that's happening right now. Take the shot. It's the best you can do."
  I nodded with a small yet unconvincing grin. "I'll think about it. I just need a little time."
  "Take all the time you need." She leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Just make the decision by the deadline. Try not to stress over it."
  "I'll try, mom. I'll wait until after New Years to start working on my decision."
  She nodded and rubbed the back of my neck. "You do whatever you feel comfortable with."
  I leaned over and hugged my mother as if I was a child who ran to his mother for comfort after falling off a bike and scrapping a knee. "Thank you so much for the support, mom."
  She hugged me back like she was comforting that kid who fell off his bike and scraped his knee. "I'm so proud of you. You're a great man, Jake."
  I smiled at her kind words. Ever since I was a kid, she would always say things like that to me. But, this time, I felt like she really meant it. It was in the tone of her voice and that I felt one of her tears land on my cheek.