That Was Unexpected! (Unexpected, #1)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

The school holidays came. And the school holidays went.

I was still under curfew which became a real annoyance. Taylor was busy studying for his exams, so I hardly saw him. The only time I saw him was when I ran into him at work.

I'd decided to fix anything broken between Courtney and me. I truly missed talking to her. We'd been to Geelong twice to see movies and so far, things were pretty much back to normal between us.

School was set to resume tomorrow, and so as I came downstairs for dinner Sunday night, I was preparing myself for when Dad would hand out a stricter curfew.

I sat down at the kitchen table where Dad was already seated and Becky was serving up roast lamb and vegetables. Lately, I'd been eating almost double what I usually would, and in turn, the baby just kept on growing.

When we started our meals, I knew it was only a matter of time before Dad would say something. So I was surprised to hear Becky's voice break the silence.

"So, Nas are you excited about tomorrow?" she asked.

I knew that she was referring to school, but I had other reasons to be excited. For one, I would finally be able to see Taylor again. "Yeah, I suppose," I replied whilst absentmindedly using my cutlery, "but I'm not sure how I'm going to survive with this" - I directed to my abdomen which was becoming rounder and rounder everyday - "for much longer." I would try and distract them from the curfew topic for as long as possible.

"Well dear," Becky replied, distracted by my topic change, "I think that you should finish out the year and then take six months or so off after the summer holidays. You'd be able to do your school work by correspondence."

"The baby's not due until March though... but I guess you're right Becky," I agreed in defeat. I knew I wouldn't see Taylor at school next year, but for some reason, I wanted to hold onto my place of education.

"I just think that it would be best for both you and the baby," she concluded.

After that, we continued eating, but Becky's good nature got the better of her.

"Now, I know you'll have to face these things sooner or later, and I think you'd better start to think of them now," Becky started. She ate another mouthful of food before continuing, "You should start to think about Chad paying child-support to you, and you should see if he's after any custody of the baby." She continued eating. I could see my dad stop and look at me to see how I would respond.

"Oh, umm, I've never actually thought about that. I don't think Chad would want any custody of the baby. He ran away when I told him." My chest tore at the memory whilst my face grinned.

"Well, I think you need to get in touch with him, as much as it might hurt, and maybe mail him papers for child support. Your father and I will be here to help you," he smiled at me warmly.

"But, he ran away to live with his dad in Perth. I don't know if he's returned or not, and to be honest, I couldn't give a damn," I replied, arrogant.

"Nasettia," Becky said as she put her hand over mine, "you need to be responsible here. You're becoming a mother, and you need to sort things out with the father. Even if he doesn't want custody of his child, his child may want to meet him one day, and old grudges wouldn't help that situation."

She had me there. But, contacting Chad? It seemed painful just thinking about it.

"I suppose," I huffed in defeat, "I'll ask Dallas if he can track down his address so I can mail him some stuff."