Confessions of A Teen Mom

Chapter 10

After our appointment Ben and I go to IN-N-OUT Burger to get some lunch. "We have so much to do. We have to buy clothes, diapers, bottles, formul-"Ben cuts me off laughing slightly. "We have plenty of time to do that." He says. "Not really. I'm five months pregnant. My due date is June. Which means we only have three months. I've been looking online and those things aren't cheap. I can't work as much as I was able to-"Ben cuts me off again. 

"I know Pepper. I've been saving up all my money since I started working. Even more so since we found out you were pregnant. You have a bank account right? How much money do you have in it?" he asks.  "Since I added in my last pay check at the beginning of this month I have two-thousand-thirty-five-dollars. What about you?" I ask. "I have four-thousand-three-hundred-seventy-five-dollars." He says. I look at him with wide eyes. 

"What? Some of it is birthday money, allowance, and my bar mitzvah money. My parents wouldn't let me spend the bar mitzvah money." he says. "So all together we have six-thousand-four-hundred-ten-dollars." I say adding it into my calculator. "Some cribs cost about one-thousand and something dollars so that's going to take us down a bit. We have to buy diapers, clothes, formula. All that stuff. Mom said babies go through diapers and milk quick." I say. 

"And our parents already said they're not going to help out with everything." I add. "That's fine. I'll keep working and put the money I earn into my bank account. Then we can take out what we need when we need it." Ben says. 'What if we just get a joint account? We're both pretty responsible. We won't use the money for anything except our daughter." I say. Ben looks at me skeptically. "Are you sure you want to do that? We're not even together. And if we get back together what happens if we break up again?" he asks. 

Okay, I clearly didn't think that idea through. But whatever, we can be responsible. "We're working on getting back together aren't we? And all we have to do is keep up with what we put into the account and if we break up you can take what you put in out." I say. Ben ponders the idea for a good ten minutes while eating his burger. I stare at him impatiently waiting for an answer. 

"Alright let's do it." he nods. I grin and high five him. "Alright good. We need to start making a list of the things we'll need." we spend a few more minutes there mapping out a list of items we'll need. After we finish paying for our meal we get back in the car. "I have somewhere I want to take you. Close your eyes and keep them closed." Ben says. I look at him suspiciously before closing my eyes. He ties a blindfold around my eyes and then starts driving. 

"You better not be about to throw me off a cliff or something." I warn him. Ben chuckles. "Your parents should really make you stop watching Criminal Minds. You're becoming ridiculous." he says. I mutter incoherently and cross my arms. I feel the car come to a stop about what I guess is ten minutes later. I hear Ben's door open and close and then my door open.

Ben unfastens my seat belt and helps me out of the car. "Come on, I got you." he wraps his arm around my waist and guides me up some stairs. I hear a door creak open and a blast of cold air hits me in the face. Ben gently pushes me inside and then comes in behind me. Ben takes off the blindfold and what I see makes my eyes water. "Surprise!" people yell. All my friends and family are there. 

A surprise baby shower. I'm touched. I turn to Ben. "You knew about this?" I ask accusingly. Ben grins and shrugs. I walk over to my mom. "You didn't have to work! And you, you weren't with Daniel!" I say to Gem. Gem laughs and hugs me. "Congratulations girl." she says. "I can't believe you all pulled this off without my knowledge." I say. "It was only possible because we didn't tell Starla. You know she has a big mouth." Tori says. "Hey! I do not!" Starla protests.