Growing Up

Chapter 16

Sophia had to come up with an excuse to not hang out with Koda after school, and her excuse was that she was grounded. It was a real excuse, but when her mother told her what she wasn't allowed to do while grounded, spending time with Koda wasn't one of the things she couldn't do. But for Sophia's excuse, it was.

"Can you ask your mom if I can come over tomorrow morning? I need help on some of our biology homework." Koda spoke, and Sophia shrugged.

"I might be able to. I'll call you later on my Mom's phone if she lets me come over."

"Okay, well I have to catch a train to my Dad's. I'll see you later, Soph."

"Have fun, bye Koda," Sophia replied. They went in the opposite direction of each other and Sophia quickly ran down the stairs.

She reached the platform as the train pulled up, and it was easy to find Carly because she was tall and her hair was very blonde.

"Carly!" Sophia exclaimed, and Carly quickly walked to Sophia.

"How was school?" Carly asked, as they got onto the train and quickly found some seats.

"It was good. I wish they would've just closed today so I would have had to attend for only half a day." Sophia replied.

"I'm glad they didn't because that means we can talk. So, what else do we need to discuss?" Carly asked as Sophia looked at her watch. She knew that she'd be at her stop in about twenty minutes, but she didn't know if that would be enough time to discuss everything.

"Have you decided if you want to break up with Chris?" Sophia asked quietly.

"I just don't want our baby to grow up without a father as you did."

"I lucked out by having a mother as amazing as I do. Do you think that you can't do it yourself? Because if my mother could, you can." Sophia spoke.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah, honestly."

"I didn't even want a baby. I'm still so young, and I'm not mature enough to take care of a baby. If your father and I break up, I don't even know if I can take care of it."

"Don't say that to me," Sophia spoke.

"What?" Carly asked.

"Don't tell me that you might give my sibling up for adoption."

"Sophia, I'm 23. I'm barely an adult."

"You don't sound like an adult right now." Sophia huffed, realizing that this train ride will be the longest she has ever gone through.

===

Carly tried to get Sophia to talk again, but instead, she realized that she shouldn't have told Sophia about thinking about putting the baby up for adoption. Sophia ignored Carly the rest of the ride, and once the train came to Sophia's stop, she got off and disappeared into the crowd.

She made it out onto the sidewalk and quickly headed towards her house when she heard her mother's voice calling her name.

"Mom?" Sophia questioned, as she turned to look at her mother. Mariska's face was covered with anger, and Sophia was actually nervous about her mother's emotion at the moment.

"Sophia Magdolna Hargitay, I am so disappointed in you." Mariska huffed.

"What did I do now?" Sophia exclaimed.

"I went and talked to your father today, and he said that Carly helped out. So, why didn't you tell me that?!"

"Because she's pregnant! And I guess it doesn't matter anymore because she is giving the baby up for adoption! Fuck everything right now!" Sophia yelled, before running down the sidewalk and to the brownstone.

"Sophia!" Mariska yelled, but her daughter wasn't listening. She was so angry at Carly, Chris, and now Mariska too.

Sophia was still young and didn't know what being an adult really is all about. She didn't know that Chris had kidnapped her because he realized that he didn't want to live without her. That Carly was giving the baby up for adoption if she and Chris can't be together, because she isn't mature enough to be a proper role model for her child. And she didn't realize that Mariska had grounded her and was angry at her for not telling her the truth because she had been hurt so badly when Sophia was taken that she wanted to make sure that those who were responsible, got charged and got what they deserved for taking her daughter from her.

===

Sophia locked herself in her room and didn't let her mother in. She had beat her mother back to the house and had grabbed the key to her room and brought it with her. She started to work on her homework while her mother stomped up the stairs and knocked on her door.

"Soph, open this door right now." She ordered.

"No, mother. I hate you. I hate Chris. And I hate Carly!" Sophia screamed. Mariska felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and she shook from the nasty sound in Sophia's voice.

"Why do you hate me, Soph? Because I'm treating you like my daughter? Or because I grounded you?"

"I don't know why I hate you, Mom! I don't know what the fuck is happening and I hate it! Today I got excited because I thought that maybe I'd have a baby brother or sister! I've always wanted siblings but I'll never have any! Then Carly had to open her big ass mouth and tell me that if she and Chris break up because he still loves you, that she is giving the baby up for adoption. I just hate everyone because nothing is going the right way!" Sophia spat.

"Open the door, Soph." Mariska breathed.

"Mom, I just want everything to be okay," Sophia whispered as she climbed off her bed. Mariska heard her daughter's voice loud and clear, even if it was quiet.

Sophia unlocked her door and opened it. Mariska walked into the room and pulled her daughter close. They sank down onto the floor and Sophia sobbed into her mother's shirt. Sophia clung to her mother and didn't know what else to do minus crying. 

"Honey, I will look into adoption," Mariska whispered. She had always wanted to give Sophia a sibling, but having another baby with Chris was very much off the table. Adoption had always been in the back of her mind, and now she guessed, was the time to look into it.

"Momma, don't do it for me. I'm going to nap if that's okay." Sophia whispered.

"I'd be doing it for us, for your information."