Unexpected Miracle






A week after his 18th birthday and two years after his step dad died, he found a note on his kitchen table. It was from his mother. All that he could make out of the sloppy blue ink was, “I am heading to Vegas with John. We will be gone for a couple of weeks or so. Take care of Kimber and be good. I will see you guys when I get back.” all he could think was,



“Great, my mother abandons me and my little sister again. I can't believe her! I guarantee she will be gone for more than a couple of weeks, but maybe that's a good thing. I won't have to take care of her when she is slobbering drunk anymore.” He crumpled up the paper and threw it on the floor. He was so mad at her. He always hoped that he would never turn out to be like his parents, and so far, he was nothing like either of them.


The next day, when he arrived at school, he couldn't wait to tell his girlfriend, Briah, what had happened. He finds her in the hall and explains what the note said. Her mouth dropped and her eyes filled with disappointment. Kowen sensed that something was wrong. She acted like she wanted to say something but she kept on changing the subject.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No, babe.” she explained. She decided that now wasn't the right time to tell him the big news.



Briah and him have been dating for 8 months now, they hardly ever fight and they seem to be pretty happy. Kowen thinks that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him. For once he was happy in a relationship. They had everything in common except that Kowen's family had hardly any money. Briah's parents were both dentists and they were very wealthy. Kowen felt that her parents thought that he wasn’t good enough for their daughter. But, if she thought that he was good enough, then that was okay with him. He was willing to put up with her snotty parents to be with her.



The next day he walked into the crowded hallways of Peevler High. He was already sick of school and it was only the second week of his senior year. He hated how the smell of cafeteria pizza and chocolate milk oozed out into the hallways.


He was standing at this locker looking for his 3rd hour books when Briah came up and starred at him. When he shut his locker and looked down at her she blurted out the news. He wanted to say so much but he was paralyzed. Just a parade of thoughts marched all around him. So many questions, wonders, doubts, it was all a big blur. All he could spit out was,



“How?”

“How what?” she asked.

“How did this happen? How are we going to afford this? How are we going to deal with this? How are two, young, 18 year olds supposed to raise a baby?” All she could say was



“Come see me after school. We have a lot to talk about.” She turned around and walked into the bathroom with tear filled eyes. He knew that they were both scared to death about this. They had a lot to figure out. He shut his locker as the second bell rang. He he didn’t want to sit at school and have to think about this all day so he decided to cut school. He stomped down the hall towards the doors. He slammed the door behind him. He started to breathe heavier and heavier as he walked out to the student parking lot. When he got to his old, ford truck, he slammed the door and clinched the steering wheel tightly. A tear ran down his face when he started to really think about this. He turned the key with his shaky hand. He put it in gear and burned out of the parking lot towards home.


He pulled up and walked into the old log cabin house. He sat at the kitchen table just listening to the horses running around, chickens clucking, and the dogs barking. Listening to all of the noises, while he contemplated calling his mom and telling her about the baby. It seemed like a bad idea, but he did it anyway, he had to talk to someone about this. He dialed the number, his heart started beating faster every time the phone rang. Just when he thought she wasn't going to pick up, she did.

“Hello,” she slurred.

“Hey, mom, it's me.”

“Yeah, what do you need, boy? I'm kind of busy.”

“I.... have something to tell you,” he said nervously.

“Come on, tell me! I don't have all day for this!

“Uhh..”

“Today Kowen!”

“Your going to be a grandma. Briah is pregnant, mom.”

“Are you serious!?” she bolted out.

“Yes, we are going to have a baby.”

“Well, I can't say that that surprises me. Like father, like son. I just hope for Briah's sake that you are a better man than your father.”

“You have no room to talk!” he exploded. “I'm nothing like my deadbeat, abusive, drunken father! But you wouldn't know that because you are never around to see what I am actually like.”

“Ever sense your step dad died you have done nothing with yourself. You quit everything, football, studying, and now you have a girl knocked up that you have only been dating for 8 months. If you ask me, you need to get your life straight. You are becoming a loser!” she argued.

“Ever sense he died, you've let yourself go, you date losers that use you, and you abandon your 11 year old daughter with your son to get drunk in Vegas. Yeah, you are a great mom! And, that's true about me, I did give up after he died. He was the only one who actually supported me and motivated me to do something good with my life. He was only my step dad and he cared about me and Kimber more than you ever did.”

He noticed her silence, but kept going on. “I will be a better parent than you ever could!” he yelled. He heard her start to cry and then the dial tone. He felt confident that he made his point across very clear. He felt a little guilty but she needed to hear it, she needs to straighten up and be a good mother again.

He dropped the phone on the table and sat down again. All of those thoughts started pouring into his head again. He couldn't help but think about how his life got turned upside down in the past couple of years.

He took a nap and waited for the school bus to come by and drop Kimber off. When she got there, he made her something to eat and made sure she got started on her homework and then headed to Briah's house. On his way there, he started thinking more positively. Without his mother in their life, he would have no one to bring him down. He started planning. He would start getting good grades again, finish high school, get a job, put his self through a mechanical college, fight for custody of Kimber, buy a house, raise their baby, marry Briah. Everything would be perfect, nothing could stop him. He knew that it probably wouldn't happen in the order that he hoped for or happen very fast, but he was determined to give Briah, Kimber, and the new baby a good life. He couldn't wait to tell Briah how happy he was to start a family with her.


As he was driving to her house he caught himself smiling about his new attitude and his new outlook on his situation. He was going to prove to everyone that he could make something out of his self and that made him so happy. When he pulled up, he couldn't hesitate to be away from Briah for another minute. He jumped out of the truck and sprinted up to her doorstep. He knocked on the door and he waited for an unpleasant welcome from her dad. Kowen could tell by the way he mumbled,
“She's upstairs” that he still wasn't warmed up to the situation. So he smiled and said,

“Thank you,” and ran up to her room. When he walked in he could see that Briah didn't look so good. Then he noticed that she was crying. She was in pain. Without saying anything, he picked her up and ran down stairs. He yelled out,

“We have to get her to the hospital!” Her parents helped get her in the car and rushed to the ER.


After 3 hours of sitting in the quiet waiting room, where he sat nervously, waiting to hear something about Briah, the nurse came in and said,

“She's in room 204.” He jumped up and tried to stop his hands from shaking so he could push the elevator button. He ran out of the elevator and went straight to her room. He opened the door to see her mom holding her hand and her dad sitting with his head down in the chair next to them. He could tell that they had all been crying. Kowen just stood there in silence. She asked her parents for a few minutes alone with him. Her dad glared at Kowen on his way out. He could tell that something bad had happened. When they shut the door he went to her bedside and knelled down. He kissed her and asked what had happened.

“In the halls today, there was a fight. I got pushed down in the mob of kids. I didn't think anything was wrong but on my way home I had horrible stomach pains and I had them ever sense. The doctors took and ultrasound and said that we lost the baby. There was nothing they could do.” He grabbed her hand and they both started to cry. He couldn't believe that their 2 month old baby was gone. All of his plans were gone. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He was just sitting there with a blank look on his face. He hesitated saying something because he was afraid of the truth. He got so caught up in his fantasy plans that he forgot all about reality and how cruel it can be.

“I came to your house to tell you that I was so excited to start a family with you, Briah.”

“I'm sorry, it's all my fault.” she whispered.

“Don't say that, you couldn't do anything. I'm just glad that you are okay. We can still have a family, just maybe after we get out of school and get jobs or go to college. Everything will still be okay. We will be okay.”


3 years later Kowen, ironically, found himself in that very same hospital room. Where he held his new born baby boy for the first time. They fell in love with Brantley Michael Bradford at first sight. They were both crying, but this time it was because they were happy about their little miracle. All of his hopes and dreams came true. He got some good scholarships and was accepted into mechanical college and he is working part time. His mom stopped drinking and has straightened up. Kimber is happy with her mom and enjoys being with her now. Had a ring that he had a ring that he has hid under the kitchen sink. He planned to organize a very special and romantic night and he would ask her to marry him. Kowen finally had the life that he always wanted.