Confessions of Ashlee: Part One FINISHED

[SenkoTwiik]

Chapter 5:


“Okay… so what do you want here?” Mom asked, raising an eyebrow after Sharon didn’t say anything for a moment.
“We have reason to believe that the children in your household are possibly being neglected or abused. You are currently only under investigation. When we receive a tip or a formal report is filed, we are obligated to investigate.”
“Come in.” Mom sighed, after being sure that CPS actually had a warrant to enter and search the house.

CPS was at the house for a total of two hours, searching for evidence of neglect/abuse, examining us and taking statements. Ms. Taylor told my mom that she had received a report against this household, stating that:
-The three younger children weren’t fed enough, and were dressed in raggedy clothing
-Mom was hitting me, Aubrey and Adam
-Mom left Adam, Abbey and Andrew home alone
-Aubrey and I were promiscuous because Mom told us to be, and one of us was pregnant
-We stole and skipped school
-We lived in a filthy house
-Mom, Aubrey and I were on drugs
-We had a physically abusive male figure in the house (father/step-father)


My mom talked the worker through all of those, proving that they were lies, except Aubrey being pregnant.
“Okay, first of all, my kids get plenty of food. Their clothes are normal, not raggedy. My house is nowhere near filthy, and I never leave my kids unless Ashlee or my mom is here to watch them. My oldest daughter is a lesbian, and has been with 1 partner for the past year. My kids go to school everyday unless they’re sick. My daughter Aubrey is a straight A student. We are not on drugs, and I have been single for over 10 years. No adult male lives in this house. The oldest male here is my 6 year old son. My kids don’t steal and I NEVER hit them.”

She had to explain to the worker a little more in depth about the legal situation surrounding Aubrey’s pregnancy. She told the worker that she had no idea that Aubrey was even active until it was too late, and that Richard was facing jail time for the abuse and as soon as the unborn baby was proven his. Mom showed Ms. Taylor all the legal paperwork from her part of the case file to prove that she was telling the truth. Talk of the trail was a long process, full of explaining about the charges of abuse and criminal actions with a minor.


At long last the worker wanted to speak to Aubrey privately to confirm that this was true and that she was in fact pressured and abused by Richard, and that Mom really didn’t have any prior knowledge of these actions. Afterward, CPS confirmed that the report filed against our family was void because of heresy.


So we were out of the woods for at least a little while longer. Things just started to get better again. Aubrey’s appetite was back and she was able to stay awake more often. She had 2 more weeks until the next ultrasound to determine the baby’s gender. We had just gotten into feeling comfortable again when a new can of worms opened with a visit from Grandma.


“Nadya, something has been worrying me.” Grandma started as soon as she entered the house, sitting herself down on the recliner.
“Mhmm…What’s that?” Mom asked, only half paying attention, filing a chipped nail.
“I have been hearing some things when I’m out and about in town. People are saying that your daughter is pregnant, and I think you need to set the record straight so that people won’t think negatively of you. We all know Ashlee’s chosen lifestyle can’t result in pregnancy.” Grandma said slowly, trying to form her words just right to keep from setting Mom off on her.
“Well, Ashlee certainly isn’t pregnant. But it doesn’t really matter what I say to people, they all have their minds made up. And I’m ready to deal with that. As the mom of a teenage mother, I know I am going to face judgment.” Mom replied coolly. She now dropped her file on the couch arm to make eye contact with her mother.


“Mom of a…? But you just said that Ashlee wasn’t pregnant.” Grandma stated, easily confused in her old age.
“She’s not. Aubrey is.” Mom said, with such poise and calm collectiveness. She knew what was going to happen and braced herself for the reaction.
“WHAT?! Nadya what are you talking about? You must be joking!” Grandma stammered.
“Well, if I was joking, that would be a pretty cruel joke for me to make about my own daughter.” Mom replied again.
“What have you gotten her into?” Grandma demanded.


Needless to say, that wasn’t the right question to ask my mom and it sparked an argument of serious proportions. They yelled at each other for a little bit and Aubrey got involved, trying to calm everyone down like she usually did. Grandma went on to say that Aubrey was just a little girl and couldn’t possibly be a good mom, and that it would be unfair for an infant to be under her supervision. Of course mom retorted by saying that Aubrey was a responsible, intelligent young woman that would be a great mom with a little bit of work. Grandma suggested that Aubrey should terminate the pregnancy before it ruined her life, and Mom quickly came to the rescue.


“My daughter was assaulted! And that sure as Hell is not the baby’s fault! This family chooses life. That’s what I have always believed and that’s what I have raised my kid to believe. I will not tolerate someone suggesting that I murder my own grandchild, in my own house! So, no. This is not your place to say anything here. I, for one, am proud of Aubrey. She is doing the best that she can do. What do you want from her?”


They continued to scream and fight about the matter until Aubrey became unable to bear it and ran off to our room. Mom literally shoved Grandma out of the house and told her not to even contact them until she changed her tone, because Aubrey didn’t need anybody to make things more difficult for her.


In a way, I understood my Grandma. Though she was cruel in her words, she meant well. She just didn’t believe Aubrey could be a mother, especially with what she had to learn from. She thought that Aubrey or her child shouldn’t have to suffer for Richard’s actions. But like Mom said, I would never be able to support her in the idea of termination. We just don’t believe in that sort of thing. Besides, Aubrey was four months along, and in our fair state, it would be illegal at this point. I know in my own heart that the thought never once crossed Aubrey’s mind.

But I still agreed with Grandma on the fact that it was going to be a very difficult, maybe even impossible future for my poor sister to have, and part of it was my mom’s fault, just like Grandma said. I still worried about what was going to happen, though not as much in the recent weeks. At first, worry drove me crazy, but then I thought, if there was a way, it would be done, and if there wasn’t… we would cross that bridge when we got to it. I expected failure, but I thought that it did me no good going nuts over it. Neither Aubrey or Mom were worried, and neither of them listened to me anyway, so why should I? So I put it out of my mind, and the worry only cropped up every now and then, when I let myself dwell on the possibilities.


I have to admit, I was very proud of my mom at that moment. The way she stood up for Aubrey like she did was exactly how a mom should defend her children, fiercely. However wrong and stupid she may or may not have been, she wasn’t going to let anybody make life harder on her child. She was right there when Aubrey needed her defense, and it was honestly a touching moment, where it really didn’t matter if she was right or wrong. What mattered was that she was there to help and be a good mom for one shining moment. If she could actually keep that going, then maybe everything really would be all right.

[Katie]

oh WOW another brilliant chapter. brilliant doesn't even begin to describe it!

[SenkoTwiik]

Chapter 6:


Before Aubrey went in for THE doctor’s appointment, the prosecution lawyer assigned to the case got in contact with mom, who had to be present with Aubrey in court since she was a minor. He said that there was a way now that we could help make the court case go by faster and have Richard and his family out of our hair sooner. Now that Aubrey was at least 16 weeks along, an amniocentesis could be done to determine if the DNA between the baby and Richard matches. That would be the only way to prove he was guilty of anything more than battery.


So that everyone is up to speed, an amniocentesis test is done when a nurse inserts a needle into the abdomen of a pregnant woman and sucks up some of the amniotic fluid from her uterus. The fluid is then sent to a lab for testing. It is usually done to test for a number of genetic disorders including Down Syndrome and Fragile X syndrome.


Mom talked to Aubrey about it and she agreed that it would be a lot easier on her once he wasn’t around to worry about. He had tried calling as well as coming over to our house on a couple of separate occasions, hoping to talk to Aubrey so that they could “work it out.”

He said he loved her and still wanted to be with her. He said that they could fix their problems, and that he could bring himself to love and support ‘her’ baby, still not saying that it was his, when he knew it was. He kept going on about how he has changed and all that. He’s changed…yeah right. As soon as Aubrey would say no, he would go back to yelling at her and threatening her.


He really just wanted her to drop the charges, and was going about it all wrong.  Mom got a restraining order put against him and his entire household except Megan. A restraining order would have been impossible with her, since she and Aubrey went to the same school.

She went in for her appointment to get both her amniocentesis test and the ultrasound done on the same day, just to get it out of the way. She was going to get it done and come right home because she had homework to finish and mom had a nail appointment to go to.


Aubrey came back into the house alone, half-smiling. She had her hand on her stomach and winced coming up the steps on the porch. I asked her if she was okay and she nodded, but said that the test was really painful for her and that she hated it and wanted to lie down. I helped her onto the couch and got her a blanket. She said that the nurse was really rough with her and really mean, so her belly was sore. But the DNA had been collected for testing, and the results would take anywhere from 2 weeks to 30 days to be returned. The lawyer had told mom over the phone that Richard was also going to the lab for a DNA test later this week.

“Don’t you want to know the baby’s gender?” Aubrey asked, from her spot on the couch where she was laying. I had gotten up to put the kettle on the stove for hot tea, since it was such a cold day outside.
“Yeah, I was just waiting on you.” I replied, coming back to the recliner to sit down.


“It’s a little girl!” She said with a smile.
“For real? What are you going to name her?” I asked, not sure if she already had names planned or not.
“I haven’t really decided yet. I want to give her something with personality.” Aubrey answered, placing a hand on her chin to think. She suddenly frowned, as if remembering an unfortunate detail. “Ashlee, when I was getting the ultrasound, they said that the baby’s brain didn’t look quite right. What could that mean?”


I looked at her for a second, not sure what she meant. “It didn’t look right? They didn’t tell you anything?” I asked. I didn’t know anything about ultrasounds or brains, so I wasn’t a good person to ask.
“They said some big words, and just that it didn’t look 100% normal. But that they would run another series of tests. The amnio-one was one of them, and they did a blood test too. That same mean nurse gave me this.”
She pulled back her sleeve to show a large bruise starting to form in the crook of her arm.
“Jeez!” I said. It looked painful. “Are you worried?”

“Yeah, of course I’m worried. But they said that her face and neck looked really good, so it probably wasn’t Down Syndrome. They said it could even be nothing at all, just that she is a little slow at this stage of development. But the tests will shed more light on the situation. Until then, I need to stay calm. Stress isn’t good for me or the baby right now.”

Things were uneventful for the next three weeks, as we waited and waited on the results of Aubrey’s test. We were sitting at dinner one evening, just talking about how our days had been and Aubrey mentioned that Mrs. Sellman, the school counselor has been talking to her about the adoption option. The two of them agreed it might be the more positive option.


“Huh?” Mom asked, “You’re thinking about giving the baby up for adoption?”
“I’m thinking about it still. But Mrs. Sellman said that I would be able to continue my life, and the baby would be able to have hers. If I gave her up, she would be put in a good home, and I will have done the best I could to make sure that she was going to be taken care of. I owe her life and I will give her that. But I don’t know if I can be the one to provide the life she deserves.” Aubrey said, slowly and as if she were reading from a script.
“What exactly did Mrs. Sellman tell you?” Mom asked.
“She just said that it was going to be really, really hard for me to finish school and keep my grades up with a baby. She said that I was still young and should be able to do the same things other teenagers do, and that I really didn’t need to ruin my life and my daughter’s because of someone else’s mistakes.”


“That really isn’t any of her business. She’s supposed to be there to listen to you, not preach at you like this.” Mom said, slightly irritated.

I honestly thought that adoption was a good idea. Mrs. Sellman was right, in my eyes anyway. Sure, having a kid didn’t ruin your life. My best friend Tiffanie had a baby and her life was doing okay. She was a home-school student and she still had fun from time to time. But in all truthfulness, she wasn’t an excellent mom. She didn’t have as many things to lose as Aubrey did. But the counselor was right about the fact that maybe another family could take better care of Aubrey’s baby than she could. There were so many couples that wanted children, but couldn’t have them. Maybe this would be a blessing for some loving family. Like Aubrey said, she owed the baby life, whatever that meant. And she really wanted to give a wonderful life but may not be able to. This could have very well been the answer that Aubrey needed.


Over the next couple days, Aubrey seemed uneasy. She always wanted to be alone in our room, or took long showers to be by herself. I think that Mom had secretly talked to her, trying to get her against adoption. I don’t know why she would do that, but it had to have been something like that, because my sister was suddenly going through a mental crisis. She seemed confident of the idea at dinner the other night, but now she didn’t want to talk about it.

Eventually some good news came, temporarily putting the worry out of Aubrey’s mind. Mom came into the house with a copy of the test results in an envelope and gave them to Aubrey when she got home from school. The DNA test was positive. Richard was the father, and that proved his guilt. All we had to do was be at the hearing in court. There was no way we could lose. The results also came up negative on all the genetic problems that it tested for. So the baby did not have Down Syndrome or Fragile X syndrome. According to the test, everything was okay.


However, the day after this, the doctor called the house to make a special appointment with Aubrey, concerning the results of the other tests she took.

[Katie]

aww~!wonderful senko! i LOOOOOVED that! I am so scared to see what happens with the baby!

[Stelio Kontos]

*eats popcorn while enjoying the drama*

[Katie]

hey give me some of that... *steals* I just read the whole thing through again!

[milie529]

Oh my god!! Can't wait to see what's gonna happen with the baby! Hope she'll be okay!

[SenkoTwiik]

Thanks for all the comments guys!
And now for....

Chapter 7:


I hadn’t mentioned it before, but mom had been on a waiting list for almost three years, waiting for a house that was big enough for the family to live in. Finally, they found a home that was approved for the housing assistance program. It had been vacant for years and finally was up for sale. The house had belonged to an old, rich couple that used it for a summer home. One summer, years ago, the couple got into an argument because the man was going to leave his wife for his 23 year old secretary. The wife, understandably upset, shot her husband dead in the basement.

The house was passed on to one of their children, who didn’t want it, and let it sit for three years before putting it up for sale. The place is real nice. It’s a single story with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den and a basement. It has been neglected over the years, but it’s still a really nice place, much better than the trailer we lived in.


The housing assistance program (HUD) allowed us to move in faster than normal, because the septic tank at our old house blew a pipe and the landlord said that we had to pay to fix it, which is illegal. So we got out of there and moved into our new home just in time for winter break from school! The best part of all is, the house is affordable. HUD only makes mom pay $300 a month for it, when monthly payments would usually be outstanding for a house like that.

You’re all probably wondering about Aubrey. I’ll get to that now.

The doctor scheduled an appointment with Aubrey a day before school let out for the holidays. She was only at her appointment for a short time, and when she came home, she didn’t look sad, happy or anything. Aubrey was blank when she came home and sat down. Mom sat down beside her for support and told her that she “supported her, no matter what”. Of course I didn’t go to the appointment, so I had no idea what they were talking about.


“Is the baby okay?” is all I asked.
“Yeah,” Aubrey said slowly, still with a blank voice, “The doctor said that she is going to be just fine. She’s just a little different, that’s all.”
I didn’t know what she meant, and so I waited for a moment to see if Aubrey would continue on her own. But she seemed so lost in thought, it was almost like she didn’t know we were even there with her.
“The baby has a disorder, Ash.” Mom said, since Aubrey was still quiet. “They said that they checked everything out and that her heart was strong as could be, and her neck and face grew totally normally. She won’t be deformed physically at all. But according to her brain tests, she is going to live with mild mental retardation.”

Whoa! That was crazy! The baby was going to have a mental disability. I honestly couldn’t believe it.


“They said that it’s not going to be severe.” Aubrey finally said. “She will still be able to function, and eventually live on her own when she becomes an adult. She just won’t ever have a high IQ. But other than that, she should be pretty much normal. The doctor said that if she is worked with, her speech won’t even be impaired. Somebody might still want to adopt her…Excuse me.” Aubrey said in a cracking voice, standing up and heading into her room. Mom gave her the double door den, because it was the biggest room besides her room.


“She just needs some time to herself. She’s okay.” Mom assured me.
“How did…how did this happen? I mean, what caused it? Do you know?” I asked, not really sure what would be the most appropriate way to address my curiosity.
“It was a genetic disorder. It was nothing that Aubrey did wrong. She couldn’t have prevented this. Something just didn’t come together right when the baby was being formed. These things happen.”

I didn’t think it was something that Aubrey did. She was a healthy girl. She exercised, got plenty of rest, ate right, took her vitamins, didn’t drink or smoke (and I never smoked around her). I could only wonder how she was feeling right now. I could tell she was upset, and I could see why she needed time to herself to just think. But I wished that I could have done or said something to help her out. But you know, what exactly do you say to something like that? I didn’t know, I’m not sure anyone in the house knew. Mom sure didn’t.


For the first week and a half of winter break, I saw very little of Aubrey and was starting to get worried. Mom said to just leave her alone and let her have her space. She said Aubrey would come around when she felt like it. She would come to dinner, and sit and talk and be friendly, but mom still suggested that we don’t talk to her about the baby until she mentions it again. She was having a hard time, and she was the only one that could deal with it.


Time went by and before we knew it, Christmas was around the bend. We had already put the tree up the second day that we lived in the house and things were looking a little brighter. Aubrey came out of her room to laugh and wrap presents with me and mom, while baby Andrew napped and Adam played cars with Abbey. For a little while, things seemed to be going much better. It was almost like nothing was there to worry about. We were having a good time, happy in our new house.

“Shoot, Ashlee will you go down to the basement and get the extra roll of tape out of one of the boxes?” Mom asked.
“But mom, I still have this present to wrap and you don’t have anything to do right now.” I answered.
“Yeah, but…I don’t want to go down there.” Mom said, looking back and forth nervously. “It’s haunted.”
I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “The basement is haunted?” I asked, in a disbelieving manner.
“Yeah. I think it is anyway.” She said quietly, and I saw she was completely serious.


“Mom, what’s wrong with you?” I asked, trying not to laugh. “You’re a fully grown woman. There’s nothing down there. I honestly can’t believe that you are scared of some silly ghost fantasy.” I said, chuckling to myself and getting up.

I went down to the basement and found the tape, only moments later in one of the boxes.



“Ooooooh, ghost tape.” I said, tossing the roll over to her. I was just being silly, but Mom cut her eyes and looked at me like I was the meanest girl on Earth.
“Come on, the basement is ghost free, I promise.” I said with a smile, trying to encourage her to act like less of a wuss.
“Yeah, says you.” Mom grumbled, continuing to wrap presents.

Christmas came faster than I thought it would, with Adam waking everyone up at 6 in the morning because he wanted to open presents. I remembered being his age and being so excited to see what ‘Santa’ brought me. It was actually refreshing to see someone in the house happy as could be about something.


We exchanged gifts and had a lot of fun that morning. I got a couple new pairs of jeans, nose stud set, more acrylic to do my nails with, a pair of shoes, new backpack and some money. It was a good haul that year, usually I didn’t get that much, but mom won the $2,000 Christmas prize playing bingo earlier that month.

“Whoa! What the hay?” Aubrey exclaimed, just about to open her 4th present.
“What?” Mom said, looking at her in concern. “Are you okay, hun?”
“Yeah, I just felt like… a twitch in my belly.” Aubrey replied, placing a hand on her growing abdomen.
“That’s called the baby kicking. Get used to that, it’s going to happen more and more.” Mom said honestly.
“There it was again! Wow…” Aubrey said, now smiling. “What a weird Christmas present, huh?”
“That’s just her wanting to wish you a Merry Christmas, mommy.” Mom replied happily, glad to see Aubrey smiling again, genuinely smiling.



The rest of the day went uneventfully. Mom spent the day in the kitchen cooking dinner, Adam and Abbey played with all their new toys in their rooms, and Aubrey cleaned up all the boxes and wrapping paper, as well as watching Andrew while Mom was busy.

I was free to do my own thing, because Ayah came over to have dinner with me and my family. Her mom and dad both had to work Christmas evening. She was glad to spend the morning with them, but didn’t want to be alone for the rest of the day. It was fine with my mom, she loved Ayah. It was a fun day being with her, and being with my happy, insane family. This was the first day of peace we had in a good while.

[Katie]

awww~! I was getting really worried, but then, Aubrey felt the baby I was like AWW~! i Loved this chapter~!

[Dmcclure1]

This chapter was realy cute. i love the pictures you take.

[SenkoTwiik]

Thanks, the pictures are usually such a pain in the butt for me to do. I usually take like 10 of the same scene and pick the best one out of each.

[Katie]

that's usually what I do. may I suggest something senko? check out the cool finds for contests thread, somewhere in it they have a hack where there are no red lines while paused. 

[SenkoTwiik]

I really should get that. Sometimes the red frame is gone when I pause, and sometimes it shows up. Weirds-ville.


Chapter 8:


New Year’s Eve came, and of course Mom made a fool out of herself. She had been hanging out with friends most of the night and she got the designated driver to drop her off at 2:00am. She was drunk and acting like a stupid college kid, being loud and stumbling around.



“Ash-e, you…shood’ve came wiv me. So muck funnn! WOOOO!” She slurred.
“Mom, do you have any idea what time it is? Everyone is already asleep. Now shut it and go to bed.” I said, pointing toward her room without knowing it.
“But ashee… I wanna PARRTY!” she shouted, slumping down on the couch.



“I think you’ve done plenty of that for one night, Mom. Wonderful example you’re setting for Aubrey, by the way.” I said bitterly, helping Mom take off her old, ratty pumps that she has owned since way back when she was known as “Cinnamon”.
“Don’t dake det tonn wiv me. Gimme anoth..(hiccup) beer.” She said, trying to act tough.
“No mom, and if you don’t shut up and go to bed right now, I’m going to lock you in the basement for the night.” I said, tired of her crap.


“…I’ll be good.” She said, letting me help her to bed.

Winter break had seemed like it was a good time for Aubrey to clear her head, without a bunch of outside influence. I figured that was why she wanted to be alone so much. She really wanted to be able to make her own decision as her own person. I guess if she knew what she really wanted, instead of having someone else tell her what they wanted her to want, she wouldn’t feel guilt in the future. That’s how this came to happen.

It was the last day of break, and I was just cleaning up after dinner when she came into the kitchen.
“Ash, can we talk?” she asked. I jumped a little, she was so quiet that I didn’t even know she was there until I heard the question.


“Yeah, sure.” I said, sitting the dish I was cleaning back into the sink and turning to face her. “What’s up?”
“Well, I already told Mom, and I wanted to tell you too. I wouldn’t feel right unless I let you know.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, not sure at all what she was getting at.
“I can’t give her up.” Aubrey said quickly.
“What, the baby?” I asked, making sure we were both on the same page. I had a tendency to get lost when she spoke for a long period of time. Aubrey was far more intelligent than me.
“Yeah, my daughter. I can’t put her up for adoption. I just…can’t and I’m not going to. Yes, okay? I know that life is going to be very hard on me. I know this. And I know I may never be the perfect mom for her, but I love her more than anyone can. Mrs. Sellman doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Mom is right. She says that if I give the baby up, she will be loved and cared for better than what I can give her, but that’s wrong. Because I am her mom, and I love her to death, and I want to do this.”
“Aubrey, have you really thought this through?”
“Yes! Yes I have thought it through, every waking second for the past two weeks I have thought it through and it felt so good to be able to think by myself. But that moment on Christmas, where she kicked, I had my mind made up. I just prayed and asked for some type of sign. I know it sounds silly, me praying, but I did. And that kick was the sign I needed. It was on Christmas, and it was like she was saying, “I want you to be my mom!” She wants to be with me, and I want to be with her. I don’t think I can live my life without her.”
“This is going to be impossible for you to have a life that is anywhere close to normal.” I said, trying not to offend her. I just wanted her to know the truth that Mom didn’t tell her.
“Look at me. I already don’t have a normal life. I know that because she is mentally challenged it is going to be even harder. I know for some moms, that’s more of a reason to give her away. But it’s not for me! It makes me want to keep her more, because if I give her away, I will never know what happens to her. I’ll never know if she really will receive all the love she deserves. With me she will. Because none of it matters to me. I see her as a perfect little girl, my little girl. She’s not going to ruin my life, she’s going to give me life. She’s special, not disabled.I know I’m making the right decision.”

I just stood there. After that speech, what could I say to her? Her mind was made up and she was going to be that baby’s mama. For some reason, and I have no idea why, I saw my little sister in a new light from that time on. Oddly, I had an insane wave of respect for her. I realized something about her. She never was a normal girl, not even for a minute. When she was little, she never played with Barbie dolls like the other little girls did. She was always asking me, “Sissy, read me a story! The one where the dragon wins!”

And now, she was nothing like other middle school girls. She gave less of a crap what celebrities did than even I did. She didn’t care about new music, and she never tried to go to school in practically underwear. No, she was always wanting to learn. She wanted to be naïve and free, always in a world of make-believe with one of her books. She was always full of imagination and determination to finish anything she started. She stuffed her brain with ideas of the future and it kept her excelling in school. That’s just how she was. She’s never failed at anything in her life. She was like a realistic, 13 year old version of Lisa Simpson, book-smart but sometimes lacked common sense. This simple weakness is what got her into this situation.

After a couple weeks of school being back on track, she stopped having her weekly visits with the school counselor, and once Mom gave the okay that she didn’t need to do what they said, there was nothing the school could do. She said that Mrs. Sellman had become a negative influence in her life. I know that all the woman did was care, but that was not how Aubrey saw it. Her mind was fully made up, and she didn’t want anyone raining on her parade, which was what Mrs. Sellman was doing.

She went on to the point of doing the best she could, in the only way that she knew how, reading and experience. She took some of her Christmas money and went down to the book store to buy a couple of books that would help her along the way down her path.
-What to Expect When You’re Expecting
-What to Expect the First Year
-Surviving Teen Pregnancy
-Special Children, Challenged Parents



And she read, any time that she wasn’t at school or doing her homework, she was reading or practicing her learning with Andrew. Sometimes she would even mix both at once, and read out loud to the baby from one of her books, show him pictures and comment to him about her baby and what development she was doing this week.



And she seemed like a whole new, bright and excited girl again...

[Katie]

aww~! another brill chapter~! I am so glad she is keeping the baby~!  I wish her luck~!

[Bookfreak]

Simply brilliant Cant wait for the next chapter