Chapter 1 -- The Unexpected Parent Forum 1
Welcome to the Unexpected Parent Forum!
Are you someone who has had parenthood thrust upon you? Maybe your adult child is going through a nasty divorce, and you're taking care of your grandchildren until things get sorted out. Or maybe someone in your family has had some misfortune -- illness, say, or getting sent to jail -- and you don't want your relative's children going to foster care. Or maybe you just forgot to take precautions one night, and now a baby is on the way. Whatever your problem, this forum is for YOU. We're all in the same boat here, and you should feel to rant, ask for and give advice, and offer a shoulder to cry on.Emily Hudson logged in and typed "new topic." She'd been lurking on the UPF for a month now, occasionally offering "cheers" and "awesomes," but never actually writing anything. But now the baby's due date was looming, and she thought she could use some advice.
Hi, all!
A while ago, my parents decided they wanted to see the world while they were still young, so they took off in an RV, leaving me to look after my teen-aged sister. "I was so responsible," they said, that they were sure I wouldn't have any trouble. Anyway, I got fed up one evening and went into a nearby city to go to a bar.
While I was there, I ran into a guy from my hometown who's had a crush on me for ages. Usually I brush him off...
...but this time I'd had a bit too much to drink and besides, I wanted some TLC.
I spent the night at his place -- it was only one night, but a couple of months later, I discovered I was preg--"NO! Nononononono! This can't be happening!" Haley's voice rang out from the bathroom.
"What is it?" Emily jumped up from the computer.
"I've got this horrible
thing on my chin," Haley wailed.
Emily went into the bathroom to see what the matter was. "It's just a pimple," she said. "People get them all the time -- especially teenagers."
"I am not 'people,'" said Haley. She picked up her plate of fish tacos and went out to sit on the back porch.
"Pretty sure you were the last time I checked," Emily called from the kitchen.
"I can't go anywhere looking like this! Emily, what am I going to DO?"
"Well, whenever I got a pimple, I used to pop it," said Emily. "But it's really better to just let it go away on its own. It'll disappear in a few days."
"I don't have a few days," said Haley. "I have to go to school tomorrow. Could you pop it for me?"
"No," said Emily. "And it really is better to wait. You don't want to get an enlarged pore."
Haley got up from the table. "Eww, I can't even believe I'm having a conversation about something as gross as enlarged pores."
Emily followed her into the bathroom. "Haley, honestly, if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have seen it. If you dab some foundation on it, no one will know it's there."
"I'll know it's there," said Haley as she walked out.
"Do you think you could do something about this sink?" Emily asked, but she was speaking to an empty room. "Okay, I guess I'll clean it myself."
A crash from the back alerted her to the fact that Haley had kicked over the garbage can. Again. This was her third mood swing in as many days, and Emily was getting tired of them.
"I'm the one who's pregnant," she moaned. "I'm the one that's entitled to have mood swings."
Over in her room, Haley was scribbling furiously in her diary:
I can't stand it that Emily is so reasonable all the time. She doesn't understand at all that I have to be perfect. Maybe she can't see my zit, but I know that awful Tiffany will be able to. And she'll scream about it so that everyone knows.
And if Emily thinks I'm going to help with the baby, she's got another think coming. She knows how I feel about messes, and from what I've heard about babies, they're just one mess after another. I didn't ask her to get pregnant, and I shouldn't have to be the one to suffer for it."Haley, I'm leaving for work, now," Emily called. "Make sure you do your homework and wash the dishes while I'm gone. And don't go out anywhere -- tomorrow's a schoolday, remember."
Haley felt better after writing in her journal, so she actually did wash the dishes. But then the phone rang. It was Alex O'Brien, one of the new guys at Consolidated. Even though he was new, he had already been named captain of the football team. All the girls -- Tiffany included -- had a crush on him. Haley pretended to be uninterested, but secretly she had already decided that Alex would take her to the prom. She left a note for Emily in case her sister got home before she did. After all, that was the responsible thing to do.
Alex was a really good bowler.
Haley wasn't, but that just meant that Alex would have to take her bowling again to give her some tips.
Haley did manage to get home before Emily got off work, but she was so tired that she completely forgot about the note that she'd left.
Emily was not happy when she read it:
Hey, Big Sis! I've gone bowling with Alex, so don't worry if you get home before I do. For a moment, Emily saw red, and it wasn't because she was looking at her dress.
She went to the computer and fished up the draft of her post.
--nant. She finished the word.
What's really driving me crazy, though, is my teen-aged sister. I specifically told her not to leave the house while I was at work and what did she do? She went bowling. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to manage once the baby comes.Emily gave herself the username "DoubleWhammy" and shut down the computer.
