I meant to talk to Easton about our decision for the baby all the next week, but whenever we had a moment alone, I lost all my nerve because he was being so sweet about everything.

On the days he didn't have work, he would come over after his lacrosse practice and go for a walk with me because he knew I wanted the daily exercise.

I had signed up for a childbirth class a couple of months ago, which started on Tuesday. And instead of me going with just my mom, Easton asked if he could come too, because he wanted to know how to help me when it was time to have the baby.

He was being everything I’d ever imagined my future husband would be, and I didn't have the heart to rip the rug out from under him and tell him I didn't think I could raise our baby with him.

So I kept going through the motions, promising myself that tomorrow I would talk to him about it.

Tomorrow was always a better day to do it than today.

But as the days went on, I was running out of tomorrows.

When Friday came, I knew I had to force myself into it. So I went up to Easton in the hall between first and second period, and asked, "Do you want to go to dinner and a movie with me tonight?"

"Dinner and a movie?" he asked, his eyes brightening. "Like a date?"

I shrugged, hoping to come off like I didn't care how he answered, even though my insides were freaking out. "If you want to call it a date, then yeah."

He furrowed his brow. "Wait, but aren't I supposed to be the one to ask you out?"

That would be nice. But he was a high school guy, and they didn't always catch the hints their female counterparts tried to give them.

I cleared my throat. "It's the twenty-first century. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter who does the asking."

My heart raced as I waited for his answer. I hadn't really considered what I'd do if he turned me down.

Thankfully, he didn't make me wait too long. The corners of his lips lifted up. "I'd love to go out with you tonight."

I smiled, and his smile broadened.

And when I remembered why I was asking him out on the date—the grin on my face faltered.

We had to talk about the future.

"Can you believe this is the first time we've been on an actual date in public without worrying who might see us?" Easton asked after the waiter took our orders. We had decided to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner since it was next to the movie theater.

"Usually, people like to go on at least one official date before they get pregnant, but I guess that was way too old-fashioned for us."

He laughed, and I was happy we could joke around for a moment.

It would be a good idea to let him get food in his stomach first before breaking the news that I couldn't keep the baby.

"So I've been thinking about how we'll work everything out once the baby's here, and I was wondering if you've thought of any names for him yet?" He stabbed his steak with his fork and sawed at it.

I looked down at my grilled chicken salad, trying to figure how to answer. How was I supposed to tell him that I didn't think we should have a say in what the adoptive parents named our baby?

I turned my fork in my hand. "I haven't really thought of any names."

He nodded thoughtfully as he chewed his food. He swallowed and said, "I was thinking it should be a super manly name. You know, I don't want teachers or other people getting confused by one of those names that can be used for either a boy or a girl, like Jordan, or Jaden. You know, names like that."

I swallowed my bite of salad. "Yeah, I agree." I guess.

"What do you think of Titan? Or Brody?"

I made a face. I did not like those names.

He noticed my expression and shrugged. "Or there are always names like Braxton or Cody."

"I like Cody. That's cute."

His face lit up, happy that I had liked one of his suggestions.

Before he could get his hopes up though, I hurried to say, "But I don't really want to get attached to any names right now."

His brow furrowed, and I worried I had just said too much. We still had the rest of dinner and a movie to get through. I didn't want to ruin the night right from the start.

Why had I suggested going on such a long date?

Probably because I really liked Easton, and I wanted to spend as much time with him before I pushed him away for good.

So I said, "What I meant was that I've heard people say that babies come out looking completely different than they had expected, and they want to name the baby after seeing what he looks like."

Easton seemed to relax. "Okay. I'm fine with making a list and then seeing what name fits his cone-shaped head best."

"Cone-shaped head?" My voice came out louder than I had planned and people at the other tables turned to look at us.

Easton smiled. "Yeah, Grant's head was so long when he was born. He looked like an alien."

"Is that normal? Or just a Stevens's family trait?"

Easton laughed. "I think it's normal. They have to squish themselves out somehow."

I crossed my legs as the image of a huge baby coming out of me popped into my head. This was going to hurt so bad.

"Is something wrong?" Easton asked. He was way too perceptive sometimes.

I played with my food for a moment. "I'm just imagining childbirth. I think I want them to knock me out while it's happening."

He reached across the table and touched my hand. "You'll be just fine. I'll be there to help you through it all."

I looked at his face, and he had such a sincere expression that I believed him. Everything would be okay. He would make sure of it.

But when he removed his hand to go back to eating, the anxious thoughts resumed. I couldn't think like this. I would not be raising this baby with Easton.

I pursed my lips and focused on my food for a moment. How was I supposed to handle this? Easton was set on keeping the baby.

But why? Out of duty, or because he truly wanted to be a dad at eighteen? I needed to do what my mom suggested and ask him why he was so against adoption.

But before I could ask, he started talking again. "I spoke to Maddie earlier, and she said we could have Grant's old clothes for the baby."

"That's really generous of her."

"She also said that Grant just switched to a toddler bed, so we can use his crib, too." He shrugged, like he had this all figured out. "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe put it in your room or something."

My eyes widened. Hearing how much he’d already planned for the baby was making things way too real.

He must've noticed the alarm on my face because he said, "Not that I expect you to keep the baby with you every single night. I mean, I guess if you want, I could have a crib in my room and you can get one at your house. We could kind of trade-off every night, so we could at least get some good sleep every other day."

I took a drink of my water, overwhelmed by everything he was suggesting. We would both still have at least another month of school once the baby was born. He would be preparing for graduation and beyond. His dad worked all day. My mom worked all day. Lexi was in school just like Easton and I were. Who would watch the baby for us while we were at school? And even then, how would I get my homework done after that? Even if we found a babysitter during the day, I'd still have homework and he would have work at Emrie's at night.

Easton may have thought through some of these things, but had he thought through everything? Did he have a solution for all the different scenarios that would need attention?

Yeah, sure he talked about taking online courses instead of going to NYU, but I still couldn't imagine expecting that from him. He would have to go to an actual school at some point if he still wanted to be a dentist. He couldn't just do all that hands-on work from the comfort of his kitchen table.

And how was I supposed to go to fashion design school and get an internship for one of the famous fashion designers in New York with a baby in tow? It was super expensive to live in Manhattan. How could I get an apartment big enough for me and the baby? And who in their right mind would want to hire an eighteen-year-old with a baby to work the long and odd hours required for fashion shows?

The more I thought about it, the more I felt myself slowly dying inside. And that wasn’t how I should feel. The baby deserved someone who was excited for him to come. Not dreading it. He deserved two parents like I’d always wanted. A stable environment.

I drew in a deep breath, hoping to calm my crazy thoughts. "How about we just focus on this moment right now and have a good time at the movie? We can figure all this stuff out later."

Easton scooped green beans onto his fork. "I think it's important to have these conversations, but I guess it's okay to have fun for one night." He winked at me. "What movie did you have in mind, anyway?"

It probably didn't really matter what I wanted because I knew I'd just be thinking about all these things during the movie.

"I'm up for whatever you are."

"Really? That means you don't mind watching the latest kiddie show?"

"I like kiddie shows."

He studied me for a moment, and I got the feeling he didn't believe me, but that was okay. We would enjoy our dinner-and-a-movie date. And then I would pull the rug out from under him when I dropped him off at home.