The Single Mother

“I know that. I’m prepared for that. I think I can do it,” Owen said seriously. “My boyfriend… I discussed it with him. He’s in the same boat I am. He wants her to have a family who loves her, and who will support her. I told him about it, and he said that she’s always welcome, and if things are really that bad then… Why am I waiting to sign the papers? Or, at least, something along those lines.”

“You seem to have though about this for a while Owen. You seem to have it planned out.” She said, “I think you are making a great choice. She deserves to be happy and you’re a great father to Dex and I know you will be a wonderful father to Chasity.” She said, “I’m glad your boyfriend agrees with all of it. I’m sure that is making your decision a lot easier.”

Wait what—Is Scarlett alright? Can I see her? 

Yeah, she is alright. She should be up from her nap soon.

That would be much appreciated.

“It’s not a big deal, really. I’ve done it before.”

“Are you sure? I mean it’ll just be Jordan because Scar will just nap with me.”

“I know. I’ve thought about all of that. I’ve stressed about all of that, actually. But… what’s going on with her parents is really bad. And… She deserves better than that. I’ll deal with all the responsibility that comes with her, as long as I know she can come home to a family that loves her. She deserves that much, and I know I can do that. I do love her, she’s already part of my family, whether it’s because of a piece of paper or not.”

“I know you and Chasity are close, Owen. But remember, if you decide to adopt her your relationship is going to change. You aren’t going to just be her friend, mentor and teacher, you’re going to be her dad, Owen. I think its great that you want to make sure she comes home to a family that loves her. What about your boyfriend? What does he think about all of this?”

I tried to scheme out of Gym class once, and tried to sneak out but sadly, my Gym teacher caught me and made me run two laps around the track. It was torture.

It wasn’t worth sneaking out of class, was it?

“Do you need help? I can babysit.”

“I wouldn’t want to ask you tobabysit a newborn.”

“Well,” Owen trailed off and nodded a little. “Yeah. But it’s a little bit worse than that. It’s kind of… terrible. And… I might have offered to adopt her.” He scrunched up his face slightly and sighed. “Is that a stupid idea?”

“You offered to adopt her?” She asked, “Do you know the kind of responsibility that is going to go along with that, Owen? I mean of course you know the responsibility of having a child, but Chasity isn’t a kid, shes a teenager. A teenager , Owen. Its going to be a lot different than taking care of Dex. Not to mention she is famous online, do you really want to take on an internet famous moody teenage girl? Do you love her, Owen? As a child?”