Exculpatory

Chapter ten

"You sure you don't know who the father is?" her mom asked for what felt like the hundredth of time but in reality probably only was the third.

"No, mom! I don't know!" Kate yelled out in frustration as she felt her tears roll down her cheeks. Angrily she wiped them away as she paced her room. They'd known she was pregnant for about a week and all she could think of was how the hell she could've been so stupid at that party. Why the hell would she down a drink she hadn't poured herself?! How many times hadn't they warned for this exact same thing over and over again?

"Maybe we should call the police, try fin..." she immediately cut her off with a stern 'no'.

Her mother sighed, and all Kate could think of was how she must be such a disappointment to them both. Her father hadn't said a word about it, but at the same time neither had she. Knowing she wouldn't be able to handle telling him she had begged her mom to do it for her, and being the amazing mother she was she had immediately agreed to do it. After that evening she'd heard her mother telling him when she'd supposedly gone to sleep. Every night for a week she'd been crying herself to sleep thinking about how she was supposed to fix all this, and that night had been no different. She'd heard her father's shocked response, not what he had said exactly, but she'd heard the shock in his tone as he had answered her mother. He hadn't uttered a word to her about it and even though Kate wondered how he was not yelling at her she was thankful her father treated her no different. At least not when he knew she saw. Behind her back she had seen him at times having watery eyes, and gazing at her belly, but when she'd asked her mother if he was disappointed in her she'd only said he was simply sad she was growing up and not his 'little girl' any longer.

"Katie," her mother sighed as she stood up from the bed she'd been seated at. "What's on your mind right now?"

The careful yet demanding voice was too much to her, tears rolling faster down her cheeks, her heart pumping harder in her chest and she couldn't stop the sobs from escaping her lips.

"I don't know if I can do this mom. I... I'm such a failure," she cried out and her mother immediately scooped her into her arms, holding her close, holding her pieces together as they were about to fall apart in front of her. "I don't deserve you... I don't... I shouldn't have taken that shot, I sho..."

"Shhh, Katie," her mother hushed. "It's gonna be alright. You're not a failure, and we love you no matter what baby, you know this," her mother's whisper was gently placed right next to her ear, making sure she would hear every word. "Yes, maybe you should've thought before taking that shot but let's not dwell on the past, the most important thing is that you are okay, and yes you might feel broken right now but I assure you everything will be okay in the end." Kate continued to sob into her mother's chest, her heart swelling with the love she felt coming from her. "And don't forget, we'll be with you every step of the way. Both me and your dad."

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"Mom?" Elisabeth's voice was extremely careful and Kate kept her gaze on the road as she hummed. "What happened?"

Grateful she hadn't looked at her daughter she tried to brush it off. "Nothing hon, just feel tired and since it's a workday tomorrow I figured it was time to get home."

It was quiet for the rest of the ride, but Kate could feel her daughter's eyes on her every second of it, most likely trying to detect what was wrong. Kate tried her best to keep her poker face on, tried not to let her daughter see any trace of the hurt she had felt during the talk with their favorite writer, tried not to show that they would probably never go there again. Her mind was in ruins, despite what she tried to show to her daughter, she was broken and god she hadn't felt this way since the time she found out she was pregnant. She hadn't felt this cheated by life since she was merely a kid.