Living With the Choices We Make (Domestic Violence / Abuse) ✔️

13 - Let's Take It To The Next Level

13 - Let's Take It To The Next Level  

It wasn't until the next morning that I realized to my horror that we didn't use protection. A pregnancy was the last thing I needed. I was calculating feverishly in the kitchen how many days it had been since my last period when Brent strolled in with a cheerful smile, seemingly in the best of moods.

"Good morning, honey." He glanced at the calendar. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to determine my cycle." I sighed. "We forgot to use a condom last night."

He poured himself a glass of orange juice. "That wasn't an oversight. I thought it was time to take our relationship to the next level and have a child."

My eyes went wide like saucers. "Are you out of your mind? I'm sixteen and still in high school."

"So?" He regarded me calmly. "It's much healthier to have babies at a young age. I want to have at least four kids and ready to start a family."

I thought his idea was ridiculous.

"You should have discussed this with me first. I'm not ready to be a mother. How will I ever be able to juggle school and have a baby?"

He shrugged. "Until you give birth, you're likely already in your senior year and no one will blame you if you'd take a year off. You can always get your GED part time."

"What about college?" I asked dumfoundedly, not comprehending how he could be so unreasonable.

He laughed. "What do you need college for? We'll be married and I'll earn enough money for you to stay home and raise the kids. I don't expect you to work."

The thought of just staying at home and doing mundane housework all day had never appealed to me. "Did it ever occur to you that I want to get a degree and work? I want to do something important with my life."

"Don't be silly." he scolded, his tone becoming more agitated and his eyes already three shades darker. "There's nothing more important than to reproduce, after all, that's why God put women on this earth. Besides, getting an education is something new. If you lived a hundred years ago, you'd be long married with a couple of kids. It's the natural way."

His face was such that I knew there would be no more reasoning with him. Secretly, I decided to go to the doctor as soon as possible to get me birth control pills to sabotage his plan. There was no way that I would have a child before I was ready.

When I was in the store that day, I pondered if I should get one of those ovulation tests to dodge the bullet this month but Brent had started to check my grocery receipts since I bought a couple of magazines he found wasteful and would probably freak out when he saw it. I had no money of my own to afford the $16, yet, I secretly kept a couple of dollars to the side in the hopes he wouldn't notice so I could at least get the birth control pills eventually.

He wanted sex that night but I pretended I wasn't feeling well and he gave in. The next morning, I went to my OB/GYN who was surprised to see me.

"If you want a prescription, I need the consent of your father, Rena."

I blushed under her questioning eyes, embarrassed that she had learned that I was already sexually active at my age.

"I'm emancipated." I showed her the court order.

She was satisfied.

When she handed me back the paper, I asked meekly: "How much does those cost?"

She studied me. "What's going on, Rena? Are you struggling for money?"

I couldn't hold her gaze. "My boyfriend has money but I don't really want to ask him."