Chereads / Rebecca's Tough Choice / Chapter 13 - Chapter 13:

Chapter 13 - Chapter 13:

Two weeks later, I went to Mom's house on Wednesday after school because we're leaving tomorrow morning since the wedding is Friday and we're coming back Sunday. I told my teachers I won't be in school tomorrow or Friday. They gave me homework to do in Bahamas. Dad already knew about it. When I got to her house, I packed my suitcase before I did homework. I figured I'd do it now so I wouldn't have to do all that in Bahamas. If it's not done tonight, I can always finish it there. Mom ordered Chinese for dinner, so I took a break from homework after it came.

"I decided to do most of my homework now to be all set. I'll go back to that after dinner," I said.

"That would be a good idea to do," said Mom.

"If I'm not done, I can bring it with me to Bahamas. I can always do it on the plane to pass the time away," I said.

"Okay," said Mom.

After dinner, she excused me from doing the table so I can continue to do my homework. Luckily, I did all of it before 9:00 pm. I was already in my nightgown at the time. We have a test on Monday, but I can study in Bahamas.

"I'm already done. All I have left now is study for a math test on Monday. That's all the only test I have anyway," I said. "I told them I'd be back in time for the test. Where are we flying out of tomorrow?"

"TFG Airport. They have flights for Bahamas," replied my mom.

"Okay. What time?" I asked her.

"The flight is at 7:00 am. It's a good thing we don't have too far to go, so we'd be at the airport for about 6:00 am. We have to get up between 5:00 and 5:30 pm. We're taking a taxi, it'll arrive at 5:45 am," said Mom.

We went to bed at 9:30 pm. Mom said it would be the best way to get up early.

The next day, we were already at the airport at 6:00 am. We checked in and we went to the gates to wait for out for flight. We already had breakfast before that. The plane arrived at 6:30 am and after everyone got off it, we went on. Mom and I were in row A, so we were the first ones on, which is good.

Thirty minutes later, the plane took off to Bahamas. I was too tired to study on the plane, so I'll wait until later. We had lunch on the plane at 11:00 am. An hour later, we arrived in Freeport, Bahamas. We went to the hotel where the wedding was going to be.

"A lot of them already came yesterday. Melissa and Bill came the day before yesterday," said Mom.

"Already?" I asked.

"Yes," replied Mom.

"Wow," I said.

Bahamas was a beautiful place. I liked it. The hotel was huge. Mom and I were on the second floor. It was also a suite with two rooms, which is nice. We had a nice view on the balcony. I could see the beach from our room.

"This is so cool to see the beach from here," I said.

"I know," said Mom.

"I would love to spend here during the summer. That would be so much fun," I said.

"Maybe we can do that when school ends for the summer," said Mom.

"We should wait until after the baby is born first. I'm due on June 12th, so adoption agency would alert the adopted couple when the baby is ready to arrive," I said.

"That's fine," said Mom.

I texted Dad and told him about everything in Bahamas including how beautiful is it. I had no idea about the time difference between here and Providence. That's why I decided to text him in case he's either in bed or at work. Mom thinks that was a smart idea, too. I texted him the pictures of the city. He told me he went there four times for his class trip back in California while he was in high school. He had a fun time. He stayed at the same hotel where Mom and I are at every time. His classmates enjoy that hotel.

That night, we had dinner. This restaurant is right at the hotel, which was a nice idea, so that you don't have to leave there. We enjoyed it. After dinner, we walked around the city for a bit since this is my first visit here. This would be Mom's first time being here, too, actually. We liked the place very much. We spent most of the time there. We had so much fun that we didn't go to bed until midnight.

The next day, Mom and I got up at 10:00 am. The wedding is scheduled for this afternoon at around 3:00 pm. We had lunch at the buffet at noon. We started getting ready by 1:00 pm. We figured it would be the best bet. We were all set before 2:00 pm. Then, we started going down to get seats early. A lot of people sat down by between 2:30 and 2:45 pm. The wedding was beautiful when it started at 3:00 pm. It didn't last too long. Melissa was pretty in her wedding dress with curly hair. Bill was handsome in his tux. After that was over, the reception was in the buffet.

We had a lot of good food. I wanted to sit with Melissa. She was very glad to see me.

"I miss not seeing you," said Melissa.

"I know," I said. "I'm pregnant, but I'm giving it up for adoption. I found a couple already."

"Where does this couple live?" asked Melissa.

"Not far where I live. I have a few reasons. First of all, Dad works the last shift: 11:00 pm to 7:00 am or a double shift if he's needed. He could be too tired to baby-sit and he likes to sleep for a few hours. Second, we live in a two-bedroom house now. There is no way I could raise a child. I just turned 15. My boyfriend and I just started dating. We're too young to be parents. I get good grades. I want to go to college after high school. We're also too young to know if we want to be together forever. Dad is very supportive with my decision," I said.

"That's good to know and it's good that you think about stuff like that," said Melissa.

"I agree. I'm due in June. This couple adopted a little girl and is ready to adopt another child. I already met them and they were very nice. That's how I knew they were the right ones to adopt my child," I said. "I don't regret my choice. I don't believe in abortion. I'd be uncomfortable to get that done."

"I don't blame you," said Melissa.

We had fun talking to each other, catching up. Then, I remembered something: Melissa also gave up her child for adoption while she was in high school. She didn't date Bill yet. She and her first boyfriend broke up before she found out she was pregnant. She wasn't ready to raise a baby on her own at all. Her parents were working. She was active in after school activities. Like I said before, she baby-sat for me a lot and she didn't have the time to raise a child. She liked to baby-sit for me. She told me Bill, who was getting his food, didn't know about the adoption and asked me not to tell him at this time to enjoy their wedding day.

"I'll tell Bill when the time is right," said Melissa.

"No problem," I said. "The child must be about 8 by now. I was six or seven when you did that choice. I remember all that."

"You got it right," said Melissa.

We talk about everything, we share secrets, and stuff. We were always close. Then, when we saw Bill coming, we switched to a different subject so he won't know what we talked about. The reception ended late and we went back to the hotel.

"Melissa told me she wants to hang-out with me tomorrow since we're not leaving until Sunday. Is that alright? She wanted to catch up. We haven't seen each other since before I left California," I said.

"Sure," said Mom.

The next day, Melissa and I did everything together. Bill already knows that Melissa just wanted to be me and her. He didn't mind. We had a great day. We did some shopping. We had lunch. We didn't go back to the hotel until almost dinner time.

"What time you're leaving tomorrow?" asked Melissa.

"The flight is at 9:00 am, so we'd back home in Providence in an early afternoon since it takes five hours," I replied.

"How do you like Providence?" asked Melissa.

"I like it," I answered. "Eliza and I get together often. And, Stephanie moved there after I did."

"Wow," said Melissa.

"Yeah," I said.

Later, Mom and I got ready to leave in the morning. I couldn't wait to come back here in the summer time. We went to bed by 10:00 pm. The next day, we were ready and left for the airport. Our plane wasn't there yet. It came at 8:30 am. It left on time. We were back home by 2:00 pm. The taxi took me home. I had my homework in my suitcase. I thanked Mom for everything and I went in.

"Hi, how was Bahamas?" asked Dad.

"Fun. Melissa and I talked a lot on her wedding day and we hung-out yesterday to catch up. It felt good," I said.

"That's good," said Dad.

"I know. I liked being there. Melissa and Bill are staying there for their honeymoon for two weeks," I said.

"I have some news to share with you. You're going to have a new stepmom and stepsister," said Dad.

"You mean you proposed to Miranda?" I asked.

"Yes," said Dad.

"Wow," I said. "Already? Didn't you both just started dating?"

"Yes, but we knew we were ready to take the next step," said Dad.

"Cool. How are we going to live here together?" I asked.

"Well. We'll talk about that when the time gets closer," said Dad. "Miranda would like to move in with us in her old childhood home. Your room is big enough to share with Stephanie. We can add an extra bed in your room. It makes sense."

"That's true. Does Stephanie know?" I asked.

"Not yet. I wanted to wait until you return and Miranda agreed," said Dad.

"May I tell Stephanie?" I asked him.

"Of course," answered Dad.

When I did, she was thrilled. Then, she told me her mom thinks moving with me and Dad would be fun to be in her mom's childhood home. I agreed.

"This is going to be so cool," said Stephanie.

"I know," I said. "Glad we waited until this happened."

"I agree with you," said Stephanie.

The next day, I passed in my homework, had the test done, and had an A+. Stephanie and I told Samuel and Eliza.

"Wow," said Eliza.

"I was surprised when Dad told me that when I came back from Bahamas," I said.

"It's cool that you're having a stepsister," said Samuel.

"Yeah. We have been best friends for a long time," I said.

Later, I found out Dad and Miranda decided to get married in February. They didn't say which date yet.

"Do you both want to be our bridesmaids?" asked Miranda.

"Count us in," I said.

"Yeah," said Stephanie.

We couldn't believe they wanted to get married so soon, but we didn't care. We couldn't wait to be stepsisters.