Let Life Surprise You

Prologue: A Surprise Baby

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It didn't matter how prepared Charlotte was for the talk, she dreaded the question yet to come.

"Do you want to keep the baby?" Sandy asked tentatively, eyes fixed on her best friend's pregnancy record book in her hand.

Charlotte glanced down at her belly that was hidden under her maroon hoodie. Last week, she didn't know that there was a bun snuggling inside her womb, depending on her for life. Today, after the doctor confirmed that she was twelve weeks pregnant, her world had instantly turned upside down.

"I don't know," she replied, almost whispering.

Charlotte wanted to do so many things in her life. She loved to challenge herself, she was thrilled to try stuff most people wouldn't, and she was open to exploring the morally grey area because she hated to limit herself. Her bucket list ideas about what to do before she died were getting longer and longer, but having a baby was none of them.

"It's not too late if you want to abort it," Sandy mumbled, sounding uncertain with her own idea. "I mean, it was conceived in one drunken night which you don't know who the father is. Plus, you'd been drinking until last week. You stopped when you suspected you were pregnant. And I'm no expert, but I heard that carrying a baby in your last year at college is hard, especially when the father isn't in the picture. Those are valid reasons, right?"

Charlotte pursed her lips, considering her best friend's advice while trying to see all the possibilities. "Maybe I can go back to that frat house and ask around? Maybe I can find that motherfucker."

Sandy raised her eyebrows. "Ask around how? Something like, 'Hey, do you guys know the guy I fucked three months back in one of your parties?'" She scoffed. "Do you even remember what he looks like? His hair color? His name?"

"No, not really." Charlotte sighed before throwing herself backward onto Sandy's bed. "I do remember his eyes, though. It's green, emerald green. And he has dark hair."

"Dark as in black or dark brown?"

"I'm not sure. The room was too dark to notice those trivial things."

"Any recollection of his name? Nickname maybe?"

Charlotte knitted her eyebrows, trying to remember anything that might be useful from that night, and she shook her head.

"Whose name did you scream when you had an orgasm then? Don't tell me you moaned Ethan's name."

Charlotte shot her friend a glare that could freeze a dragon's throat. "Can we not discuss my orgasm now? A more important matter needs to be addressed. Urgently."

Sandy put her hands in the air. "Sorry. I was just curious. How could you not remember anything about the guy you banged all night."

"I was drunk! It was the night Ethan broke up with me. I was so lost and in need of cock," Charlotte replied, wincing inwardly after listening to her own answer.

"You got one alright, and you've got the bonus, too. There." Sandy pointed at her belly.

Charlotte groaned as she put both her hands over her face. "I swear we used a fucking condom that night. That rubbish," she cursed under her breath.