Face The Music

Round 2

 Everything seemed great, until I looked over at Mia. Now that I was seeing her without the stage lights blinding me, she didn't look so good. She was a little pale. I exchanged glances with my mom and Hudson.

"The school called and sent her home early," my mom said. "She threw up a couple times."

"And you still brought her all the way out here?" I asked.

"She was dead-set that she was coming tonight," she said.

I sighed. "Okay. We'll just leave her home from school tomorrow. She told me there's something going around in her class. Kids these days are little germ magnets."

We got home and I checked on Mia before going to bed. She said she was fine. I took the hot shower that I was desperately craving, and then I checked on Hudson as he settled down on the couch in the office.

"I'm worried. You know she has a boyfriend, right?" I said to him.

"Oh my gosh, calm down. There's no way. There's absolutely no way, Deni," he said. "Wait, she does?"

"They've been going out for a month and I haven't met him yet. It's hard to with my crazy schedule. Being a Rockette isn't really a nine-to-five job," I said, giggling.

"Ten to three-thirty if you work from home like I do!" He laughed and I nudged him. "My boss isn't at my house. He doesn't know what I'm actually doing. If the work is done, it's done."

"Yeah I definitely can't do that," I said. "I dunno. I think I might pick up a test for her. But is that like...accusatory? Would it make it seem like I don't trust her?"

"Well don't just buy a test and be like, 'here! I need you to pee on this!' Ask her if there's any chance, and if there is, we'll tell her we love her no matter what and we'll pick up a test."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

I left his room and went upstairs to my bed. I scrolled through my phone for a bit and fell asleep, but I woke up a few times throughout the night. I had a really deep feeling of dread. Mia got sick a lot, but she'd never gotten the stomach bug. The kid had a stomach of steel. She could handle the spiciest foods or any ride at the amusement park.

I got up the next morning around seven, which was way earlier than I should be, but I was on a mission. I went for a walk around the corner to the bodega and bought a pregnancy test. The cashier knew our family because we were there all the time, and he winked at me when I came up to the counter with the test. If only bodegas had self checkout.

I left the store, went home, and had breakfast. I made some of Mia's favorite waffles, but I had no idea if she'd actually want them. My mom grabbed a protein shake and left the house, and her slamming the front door behind her caused Hudson to wake up.

We both heard coughing upstairs and immediately were in mom and dad mode. We rushed over to Mia's bathroom and threw the door open to find her leaning over the toilet. I didn't see her cochlears in, so I knew she couldn't hear anything.

She shooed us both out, and when she was done, she went back to her room and put her cochlears in. She had her head down. I felt like there was a rock in my stomach.

"Mia, what's going on, babydoll?" Hudson asked.

"Don't feel good," Mia said.

"We can see that. But you seem like you have something else wrong," I said.

"I hate eco-friendly condoms. They're so bad," she said.

"Yup. That's what got us. We try to save the earth and then we got you," Hudson said.

"I can't believe you're so calm at a moment like this!" I said. "M-I-A, is there really a chance you're pregnant? Are you sure?"
She nodded. "The app on my phone said I was late and to take a test. I don't know what to do. I'm scared and so embarrassed."

"Oh, no, absolutely not. You should not be embarrassed. Look at your mom and I. Things happen."

"Your dad is right. It'll be okay," I said, hugging her. "I had a feeling so I bought a test. You can take it whenever you're ready and we can go from there."

"I'm ready. We need to know," she said.

I went downstairs and got the pregnancy test. Mia locked herself in her bathroom, and by the time the toilet was flushed and she washed her hands, I could hear it beeping. It was only a ten-second wait time. It was amazing the kind of pregnancy test technology we had these days.

Mia opened the door with tears streaming down her face. We both already knew and hugged her tight.

"I'm a failure," she said.

"Are you kidding me? Don't say things like that!" Hudson said.

"You'll never let us down," I said to her. "Do you want to try eating breakfast? How about you get changed out of your pajamas. It looks like you got a little throwup on them."

"Oh, yuck. Yeah. I'll change," she said.

She went into her room. Hudson and I went downstairs.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked me.

"What are we gonna do? We're gonna support our daughter no matter what decision she makes. I-I don't know what else we even could do," I said.

Mia came downstairs in a sweater and leggings. I could tell that she wasn't feeling her sparkly little self. She sat down at one of the barstools by the counter with her head in her hands.

"You don't need to make a decision right now. You have plenty of time," Hudson said.

"No. I've been thinking the past few days. Is it okay if I keep them?" she asked.

"Honey, it's not up to me, your dad, or anyone else. If you want to keep it," I said.

"No, mom. Did you see the test?" she asked.

"No." I said, looking at Hudson. "Did you?"

"No. M-I-A, what are you saying?" he asked her.

She ran upstairs and brought down the test, along with her phone. The test measured her hormone levels. She downloaded the app to her phone and it had an alert next to the reading of her levels. I watched the color drain from Hudson's face as we read the alert.

"Your hCG levels are high. You are most likely expecting twins," I said.

I grabbed onto the counter, about to pass out. I had a pregnant fifteen-year-old that was possibly expecting twins. As if my life wasn't crazy enough. My poor mom. She was about to go through round two of having a pregnant teen at home.

The three of us went into a group hug. No matter what came our way, we were all a family and we were sticking together. Even if it meant I was going to be a grandma in my early thirties. Wait, what? A grandma to twins in my thirties? I knew I could do a lot of things but this was...a lot.

My vision blurred and I started to see stars. Before I knew it, I was waking up on the floor of the kitchen and surrounded by paramedics, who were bandaging up my aching head. What a way to start the day.