Mistakes Were Made

Chapter 35: Adulthood

Dakota's eyes flutter open, her body screaming. She had slept on her stomach again, her neck hurting. The house is nearly silent, the rain had finally stopped after two days. Suddenly, Dakota can hear Humphrey in the other room humping the couch or one of the kitchen chairs.
"Humphrey, cut it out!" Hank shouts from the bathroom.
Dakota jumps at the sound of his voice, not knowing he was right there. The familiar sound of boots Scuffling the floor makes her smile. She sits up to see Hank walking out of the bedroom.
"Hey, handsome!" She calls after him.
Hank appears again, he's wearing his Mike's Autoshop blue uniform.
                   There's a small smile on his face. "Hey, birthday girl."
Birthday girl? Dakota thinks. Then it hits her.
"Whoa, I'm 18!"

With excitement, Dakota (gif above) begins to jolt around in the bed as she cheers happily. It's official, Dakota Elaine Ryan has finally reached adulthood. As she continues to go crazy in bed, Hank shakes his head and goes to the kitchen. Humphrey rushes in and begins barking happily. Dakota gets up and rushes out of the bedroom with the German Shepard on her heels.
Hank sits at the dining room table, sipping on coffee and reading a newspaper. Dakota rushes over and slides into Hank's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kisses his cheek and grins from ear to ear. Humphrey sits right at Dakota's knees. Hank puts his coffee down and holds her upright, pulling her close to him.
                   "Do I look older?" She says happily.
                   "Oh yeah," Hank says sarcastically "you look 30, Koda."
                   Dakota playfully smacks his chest, both of them chuckling.
                   "Do you feel older?" Hank says.
                  "Not really." Dakota shrugs, "Maybe this birthday thing hasn't kicked in yet, like I haven't got the adultness feel yet."
                    Hank smirks. "You get older, but you never feel older."
                   "That's kinda hypocritical, Hank." Dakota says, "You must have never been a kid. Probably came out grown."
                   Hank takes one last big gulp of his coffee and he's up, pushing Dakota up as well. He once again kisses her forehead before walking to the bedroom.
                    "So, since I'm an adult now—can I skip school today?" She says with a mischievous smile.
                     As Hank walks into the bedroom, he turns to her with his own mischievous smile. "Ha! That's cute."

                       Dakota had missed the bus, mainly because she let Humphrey play in the huge puddles of water. Hank was forced to drive her to school and she was nearly late. Dakota had decided to dress nicer today for the special occasion. She spent all of her classes not paying much attention. She was too excited to pay attention. When it came to be lunch time, she met up with Melody and Devin. They both hugged her and congratulated her.
"You're finally an adult!" Melody giggles.
"Took you long enough, DR." Devin jokes.
"Are you and Hank doing anything special tonight?" Dakota looks to Devin, who's she hadn't told about her and Hank yet. "Don't worry, I kind of explained you and Mr. Daddy to Dev. It's all cool, he's chill. But are you two gonna end the night with a bang?"
"Dev, cover your ears." Dakota commands Devin, who covers his ears. "I don't think so. We've been fucking a lot lately and I think Hank is worried he may get me knocked up and Preacher is gonna make him name our son Henry Scott Allen the III. So the odds are 50/50."
"I can't still hear you two." Devin takes his hands off of his ears, adjusting his backpack. "And that was not worth covering my ears, DR."
"Sorry, Hank and I are still kinda new at the whole—serious relationship thing." She says as they approach the lunch room.
"Yeah," Melody combines her fingers with Devin's "we are too."
The three friends all grab a tray and get a slice of pizza from the Pizza Line. Dakota shakes her head, looking out onto the cafeteria.
"Guys, we're all three adults now. What the hell are you guys gonna do after school?" She says worriedly, "I can make a safe bet Hank and I will probably stay here in Thorne Bush for the rest of our sinful lives."
"I don't know." Melody says "But all I know is that I am not staying in this messed up town. Two houses down from mine, the cops found a man dead in his bathtub. Apparently, he had been murdered last night. Somebody drowned him and everything."
"Yeah, this town's getting rougher and rougher." Devin says, "Somebody got shot two days ago in Kelly' Grocery Market. It was over a drug deal."
"I wouldn't want to have kids here." Melody says suddenly.
Devin gives her a look. "Kids? When did we start talking about the possible outcome of too much sex?"
Melody shoots him another look. "You're weird, Dev."
"I would." Dakota nods.
Both Devin and Melody exchange a look before looking back at their friend in confusion.
"You would what?" Melody says
"Have kids here." Dakota says blankly, "Were we done talking about that?"
The couple both chuckle at their friend.
"Dakota, You'd probably give your kids British names." Melody takes a bite of her pizza, "Like Harold or Leopold."
Devin nearly chokes on his pizza. "Good god."
"Like I said before, If Hank and I had a boy, Preacher would try to get Hank to name our kid after him or Preacher ." Dakota thinks about Hank in the moment, smiling brightly. "Either way, I'm going to hate it. And I'm only having one."
"What if it's a girl?" Melody says with a small smile. "It could be a Harriet or a Lenore."
"I don't know." Dakota thinks to herself, smirking. "I'll figure it out when I get there. For now, I just wanna eat pizza and think about how I'm going to get Hank to fuck me tonight."
Dakota thinks about Hank. 4 months ago, she couldn't have even considered letting Hank hug her, much less have sex with her. It was only 3 months ago that she was sneaking out late at night and partying until 2 o'clock in the morning. But, as any love story, love and loss changes everything.

The End