Laura Scott patted her stomach and snuggled against her boyfriend, Cole Dawson. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead gently as the warm, Charleston breeze danced over them. They were in their favorite spot, sprawled on the soft grass and leaning against the big old oak tree that overlooked a shallow pond where a family of swans floated along. They’d come here on their first official date, two years ago, after getting ice cream cones and strolling through the park. The old tree had beckoned to them and gave a bit of privacy as they watched people walking along the water’s edge.

Laura sighed with happiness. On this sunny afternoon, a week after graduating from high school, she suddenly felt very adult and ready to take on the world, and relatively sure of her place in it. She glanced down at the modest diamond engagement ring she was wearing. Cole had given it to her a few days ago and she couldn’t stop staring at it. Her mother had been thrilled, and relieved, considering. 

Laura hadn’t ever really worried, though, except for the initial day of panic when she learned the news and couldn’t understand how it had happened, as they’d been so careful. Her doctor explained that the antibiotics she’d been taking for an ear infection had canceled out the birth control. She and Cole had already talked about getting married, though, and having children. She loved kids, and he said he wanted a houseful of them though neither one of them had expected to get started quite so early. It did change their plans a bit.

“I’ll have to let Montana State know that I won’t be attending after all. Hopefully, Clemson will still let me in.” Laura was planning to be an elementary school teacher.

“Of course they will. They did accept you. And if it’s too late for this year, you can do community college and then start up fresh in the fall.”

“That could work. How do you think your father will take it? Do you want me to come with you?” Laura noticed a muscle clench in Cole’s jaw and knew that he was dreading the conversation that he needed to have with his father.

“He’s back tonight, and we’re having dinner at the club. I thought that might be a good place to tell him. He can’t go too crazy if we’re out in public, especially there.”

Cole’s father could be intimidating, and although she’d offered to join Cole, to support him, Laura was actually glad that she wouldn’t be there. As sure as Cole was about getting married, she knew that his father was going to give him a hard time about it.

Dalton Dawson was a big deal in Charleston. No one knew exactly how much he was worth, but it was rumored to be multiple billions. He was a real estate developer with holdings all over the country. He was smart, driven, and Laura suspected, a bit ruthless. She didn’t particularly care for the man. He and Cole couldn’t be more different. Where his father was hard and ambitious, Cole was sensitive, caring and creative. His dream was to be a country music artist.

Laura suspected that Cole took after his mother who had once been a singer, too. She’d never had the chance to meet her, as she’d died a year before she and Cole started dating, but he spoke of her often and had played some of her old recordings for Laura. She had a lovely voice. She had softened his father’s edges, and they’d been madly in love. When she died, six months after being diagnosed with lung cancer, his father changed. He threw himself into work even more and recently found a new focus.

He was determined to be the next governor of South Carolina. Which was another reason he wasn’t going to like their news. Dalton Dawson was a staunch Republican and conservative family values were a key part of his platform. His son knocking up a teenager who lived in a trailer park with her alcoholic mother wasn’t going to go over well.

“He’ll just have to deal with it. People have babies all the time, and at least we’re getting married. I told him over a month ago that I was going to ask you to marry me so that won’t be a surprise.”

Laura chuckled. “He tried to talk you out of it, I imagine?”

“Well, yes. He said we’re too young, for one thing.” Cole looked like he was going to say something else, then thought better of it and Laura imagined that his father had shared a few more reasons as to why they're getting married wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t think she was good enough.

Cole reached into his pocket and drew out a Swiss army knife. He opened it and then smiled at Laura as he turned around and found the heart he’d carved into the old tree on their first date. It said Laura and Cole and the simple gesture had endeared him to her then. They’d seen each other almost every day since. Cole didn’t care that she lived in a trailer park, and he liked her mother.

Cole was her best friend, and she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life. She watched with curiosity as he carved something below their names. When he was done, he leaned back so she could see. It was a single word, in small letters so it could fit into the heart and it said, ‘Forever’.

“There is nothing that my father can say that will change my mind. We are getting married as soon as possible. And then we’re going to start the rest of our life together.”

* * *

Laura’s mother was sitting on the patio smoking a cigarette when Cole dropped her off. He waved as he drove off, and Laura joined her mother and pulled up a chair. Technically where they lived was considered a mobile home, but there were no wheels. They were manufactured homes, modest but well-kept, and Laura had never minded living there. It was other people that seemed to mind, catty girls mostly, and as her mother had reminded her more than once if they had a problem with where she lived, that said more about their own issues.

As of a few years ago, her mother had paid off the mortgage and now owned her home free and clear. She was a tiny woman, just over five feet tall and about a hundred pounds. Laura smiled as she noticed that even after a long day of work, her mother’s hair still looked good. That was one thing she envied about her. Unlike her own hair, which was long, fine and stick straight, her mother’s was the same sandy blonde, but short and wavy and she didn’t have to do a thing except run a comb through it.

She also had blue eyes, a cute nose, and an easy smile. She’d been beautiful when she was younger and in Laura’s opinion, still was. She looked tired today, though. She worked as a waitress at a family restaurant and must have worked the lunch shift as she was still in her uniform and had a glass of Chablis by her side. Her mother enjoyed her wine and often had several glasses at the end of a long day.

“Has Cole told his father yet?” Her mother seemed worried. She knew as well as Laura did that Dalton Dawson was not going to be happy to hear the news.

“He’s been out of town. They’re talking tonight, at the club.”

Her mother took a sip of wine and then a long drag on her cigarette.

“You don’t have to get married, you know. You and the baby can stay here. There’s room for all of us.”

Laura reached out and squeezed her mother’s arm. She knew that she really wouldn’t mind having them stay. In fact, she’d probably love it. She had been about Laura’s age when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Like Laura, she’d been madly in love and Richard, Laura’s father, had felt the same. They’d married and everything had been wonderful, until a few years later when her father hurt his back on a construction site and became hooked on painkillers.

He died in his sleep one night after an accidental overdose which her mother blamed herself for and never really got over. Richard had been the love of her life, and though she occasionally went on a date, her heart wasn’t in it. Laura worried that it might be hard for her when she moved out, and she was glad that Cole had agreed to stay in Charleston, so they would still be close to their families.

“Thank you. I think it will be okay, though. Cole is determined to get married, with or without his father’s blessing.”