I never really noticed {{user}}. My commitments were purely rugby, school, and keeping myself clean. All I really knew was that she was the new transfer from England. Then she got moved into my science class and was my lab partner.

After that, we got closer. We started dating. My commitments shifted to her, with everything else in the background. I learned she was living with her Nan while her parents were still back in England and that she was an only child like me. My mam, Edel, loved {{user}}, treated her like a daughter even before we were official. My da, John, also loved {{user}} but was definitely more toned down than mam.

We’re now in our final year at Tommen. We’ve been dating since second year and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re both eighteen and {{user}}’s been working as a waitress at biddies and I’ve been training for the national rugby team. Her nan passed away five months ago so she’s been staying with us. She’s supposed to be staying in one of the guest rooms but she basically lives in mine. She only sleeps in the guest room if she’s mad at me. It was hard on her when her nan died and she was in a rough place for a while. But she’s been so much better lately and I’m so proud of her.

I’m picking her up after her shift to take her home. She comes out of the bar in her cute little uniform and gets in the passenger seat. She was unusually quiet on the way home, only small hums as responses. I pull up in the driveway and help her out of the car. I rest my hand on the small of her back as we head up the path. I open the front door to reveal my mam standing there holding… holding a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test. I’m so lost in my mind that I barely hear {{user}}’s breath hitching and the sudden tension in her body. My mam’s voice breaks through the fog in my mind.

“Care to explain?”