A month later, Lars was sitting on his bed and practicing his guitar. He was looking at sheets of music that Mordecai had gotten for him. The body of his guitar was curvy, yet slim and had a long neck. It was made from a light colored wood while the neck was made from dark metal. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Said Lars, still looking at his sheets.
The door opened slowly as Mordecai stepped into the room. "Sorry to interrupt your music lesson but someone is here to see you."
"Is it urgent?" Lars was still reading his sheets, "I'm a bit busy right now."
"Lad," said the man, "It's your girlfriend."
He finally looked up from his papers, "Eva." He put his guitar down and slid out of bed. He threw on a robe over his beige pajamas and walked out of his room.
He walked into the living room and saw Eva sitting on the couch. She was wearing a long, brown coat and her hair looked very messy. Her eyes were red and she seemed to have trails of makeup leading down her cheeks. Lars carefully sat down next to her.
"Eva," he said softly, "Have you been crying?"
She nodded, "Lars, I need to tell you something."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"
"I'm…" she sniffled as she began to weep again, "With child."
"Huh? With a child?" Lars scratched his head. "What do you mean?"
"I'm pregnant!"
The boy gasped, "Am I-"
Eva sighed, "Yes, honey. You're the father." There was a moment of silence as Larmei stared at her in shock.
Me, a father? He thought. Starting a family with my girlfriend sounds great and I don't want to be the only teufel I know but I'm not ready for this. I can't afford to take care of a child, let alone myself.
He was then bombarded with feelings of joy and anxiety.
"So," Lars began, "What are you gonna do?"
"What do you mean by that?" Eva asked.
"I mean, are you gonna keep it?"
Eva gasped, "Lars O'Blen!" She seemed to be offended, "Of course I'm going to keep it! I'm not going to abandon it at some orphanage like an irresponsible whore."
Oh no! Thought the boy. He then got up and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Asked Eva.
"I need a moment." Said the boy as he left the room.
He went into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. He then jumped onto the bed and his face plopped into the pillow. He took a deep breath and screamed into his pillow. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
"I need a moment, Eva!" Said Lars while his voice was muffled by the pillow. The door opened and Mordecai slowly entered the room.
"It's me, lad." The man smiled.
The boy sat up and looked at the man, "Oh hey, Mr. O'Blen."
Mordecai carefully closed the door behind him before he walked over to the boy. "I see you're in a bit of a predicament."
Lars sighed, "Yeah, I am."
"So what's your plan now?"
The boy just shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I don't want to leave her but at the same time, I can't afford to raise a child."
"Ah," the man sat down next to Lars on the bed, "I was talking to her and she said that she's scared."
"Why's that?" The boy raised an eyebrow.
"Apparently, her brother might kick her out of their apartment if he finds out that she's having a child out of wedlock."
"That's terrible! But I don't know what to do." He hung his head and sighed, "This is all my fault."
The man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "It will be alright, lad."
He looked up at Mordecai, "What makes you say that?"
"Remember when you destroyed that bottle of whiskey?"
The boy nodded, "Yes. You told me that it would take me four years to pay for it."
"Well, I might've lied a little."
The boy stared at him in confusion, "What? Why?"
"You see, it only took you *one* year to pay for the damaged whiskey. The reason why I told you it would take you four years is because I wanted to see if you would turn your life around," he smiled, "My predictions were correct! You left your life of crime and turned yourself into an upstanding member of society."
Lars paused for a moment to process everything he just said, "That's great and all but what does any of that have to do with this?"
"I'm getting there. Have patience, my boy." The man chuckled, "Anyways, since you never had to pay rent or buy food, I took your salary and kept it in a bank account under your name. I was planning on giving it to you when you were ready to move out. But since you have a child on the way," the man slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a piece of paper, "I thought that *now* would be the perfect time to give you this," he handed the paper to the boy.
Lars took the slip, "A check?" He read it and gasped, "That's a lot of money!"
Mordecai nodded, "Ay and it's three years worth of pay. You can use this to rent an apartment with Eva so you two can raise your kid together."
The boy let out a deep sigh as he began to weep tears of joy, "Thank you, Mr. O'Blen!" He then hugged the man tightly.
"No problem, lad!" The man laughed as he hugged him back, "Just looking out for my boy."
Lars went back into the living room where Eva was drinking a glass of water and wiping her black tears with a napkin. She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile as the boy approached her.
"Eva," said the boy as he got down on one knee in front of her.
Eva covered her mouth with her hands and gasped, "Yes, Lars?"
"Will you," the boy slowly began.
Eva gulped in suspense.
The boy took a deep breath and sighed, "Will you move in with me?"