{way too} young love - a short story

I can't walk down the hall without people staring at me. I hate it, I hate the way people look at me like I murdered someone, or like they think I'm going to. Even my closest friends look at me differently. How did everyone even find out so fast? It's not like you can tell. Don't they know I don't want this? Do they think I chose this? I'm too young to be a mother, I'm only 16, I want to be able to take care of a child before I have one.

I won't let them get to me. I won't.

There's just one person I need to tell, hopefully he hasn't already heard.

I turn the corner and see him standing there. There's a girl whispering something in his ear. She walks away and he leans against the wall slowly, as though he doesn't want to believe what he heard.

Great. I'm seconds too late.

He looks up and catches my eye. He looks hurt, or maybe just confused, it's always been hard to tell with him. 

It's now or never.

I walk over to him, my feet dragging, I can't help it, stopping just a few feet away.

He can tell I know he knows already, he always can, so he doesn't wait to speak.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  He asks quietly. It makes me cringe, he only quiet when he's upset.

"Caleb, I just found out for sure a few days ago, and I wanted to tell you in person." I drop my eyes to the floor, I can't stand to meet his gaze. Looking into his dark eyes only made it worse. "I understand if you don't want to see me anymore"

He puts one finger under my chin and tilts my head up to look at him. His eyes are sparkling.

"Becca, really? Do you really think I'm that shallow? That I'd leave you now, when you need me more than ever?" He offers me a small smile. That's all I needed.

"I was hoping not" I said as I threw my arms around his neck. "Thank you."

***

{Four years later}

We're walking down the street, hand in hand. Belle skipping ahead of us, her golden curls bouncing. She's my little princess, it seemed only fair to name her after one. 

Maybe it's selfish to say I'm so glad she looks like me, the same blonde hair and dark brown eyes, my hair is straight and hers are tight little curls, but otherwise she looks just like me. Caleb has curly hair, so it seems only to enhance that he will always love her as his daughter.

Suddenly he stops and gently puts his arm out in front of me. I look up at him, confused, but he just smiles at me. 

"Bella." Technically her name is Belle, but he's called her that since the day she was born.

"Yes Daddy?" She says, turning around and running back to us. She's called him that since she was old enough to talk, she doesn't know any different.

"It's time sweetie" He says softly. She squeals, her brown eyes shining, and unzips the small bag that had been bouncing at her side. My mouth drops open at the little box she hands him.

She spins around and grabs my hand, grinning ear-to-ear.

He turns toward me again. 

"I made this decision years ago, I just had to wait for the right time to make it official" He gets down on one knee and says "Becca, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and we can continue" He glances at Belle "to grow our family" 

I  was already crying, but the way he said 'our' put me over the edge. With tear rolling down my cheeks I manage to speak,

"Yes! Yes, a million times!"

He stood up and wrapped his arms around me and presses his lips to mine. When we break apart again, I glance down at my - our little girl, she's standing next to us, her hands pressed over her eyes. We both started laughing and he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.

"So I guess we already have our flower girl"

***

Well there you go, my first actual story. I really have no idea where that came from, but I thought it was cute. Just so you know, I'm kind of a hopeless romantic. 

Sorry if it was a little confusing at all, I tried to make it as clear as possible.

Also, I KNOW I'm not a very good writer - at all. I just had this idea and thought it would be fun to write down.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)