The Eve of a Birthday

It is the eve of the young girl's eighteenth birthday.
Quietly she lays, hands resting on the small swelling between her still slender hip bones.
She waits, and whispers,"are you awake?"
Again, a tiny flutter.
"Hello my sweet one," she murmurs in awe.
Such a miracle, small yet complete. Miniature limbs stir within her womb.
This petite baby has already made its presence known.
More than two months of nausea and vomiting have been daily reminders of pregnancy's changes.

The ring of the phone draws her from the reverie of the moment.
Her boyfriend has called. He asks how she is feeling. He knows of her nausea.
After they hang up, she begins to gather books.
Just over a month left in the semester, but several projects to complete.
She looks at the calender on her desk.
Soon the college will select the students who will be admitted to the nursing program.
She silently pleads for acceptance.
It is the slim hope of a way out of the tightening noose that urges her to surrender her baby.

The internal war is interrupted by the sound of the door bell.
His smile as she opens the door, and the twinkle in his clear blue eyes tell the story of his trick.
He has come home from college today to celebrate her birthday
and he'd called from a friend's house just moments earlier pretending to be at school.

Her heart leaps with joy. She flies into his arms for a hug.
The feel of his strong arms around her, as she presses against his chest and feels his heart beating,
is a sensation of utter completeness.
She snuggles into the firm, comforting hug and sighs.
She feels so present with him.
After a long minute, they pull apart and look into each other's eyes.

She notices that his thick light-red hair is beginning to curl slightly at the collar.
Likely his father has begun to prod him to get a haircut.
He will give in as usual to the commanding, executive-style pressure from his father.
Then, he will wear a favorite stocking hat for weeks until the hair has grown again.

He takes her out to dinner at their favorite pizzeria.
They share a peperoni pizza so fresh that the sauce burns the roof of her mouth once again.
She tries to ease the burning sensation with a swallow of root-beer.
The soreness will be a reminder of this time for several days.
He stays for too few hours before their friend drives him back to college.
She is moved to tears after he leaves by the sacrifice of time he has made to share an evening with her.

Again, she is torn. He is bowing to his parents lead in pressuring her to give up, to surrender to adoption, the baby nestled within her.
She craves his love, his presence in her life. Will she lose him if she insists on keeping and raising their baby?

The struggle between desire for him, for his approval, and the love bond with her child torments the young mother
on the eve of her eighteenth birthday.