She’d blamed her mother for years and their relationship was still strained. But in her heart she knew it was her own fault. She’d gone along with everything her mother had planned for her future—and that future did not include a baby.
It was so long ago, yet it seemed like yesterday. She grew up as an only child in Rockport, Texas. She was pampered and protected, and she was happy. In school, she was at the head of her class. The kids called her brainy, but it didn’t bother her because she recognized that their teasing was affectionate. She was friends with everyone. Then, in her senior year, Emily’s life started to fall apart.
At forty, her mother discovered she was pregnant. It was a shock to everyone—especially Emily. She was so naive that she’d never thought about her parents having sex; she couldn’t even imagine them doing such a thing. They were too old, she kept telling herself. Inevitably, the kids started to tease her about her sexy parents and it became an embarrassment. For seventeen years, she’d been a model daughter, but the new baby changed her whole attitude. She grew rebellious, staying out late and arguing with her parents.
Then Jackson Talbert came into her life. Her father was a fishing guide in Rockport, a small town on the Gulf coast. Jackson and his father had come down for two weeks of fishing after Thanksgiving. Her parents had cottages they rented to tourists during the peak months. During the winter season, if a person wanted a fishing trip and also asked for accommodations, her father always rented the back room. The cottages were closed until March, so it was easier for her mother to have everyone in the house.
When Emily had first seen Jackson, she thought he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen, with his blond hair, green eyes and charming smile. He was tall, with a trim, athletic body. She was sure he’d played football, and later he told her that he had in high school. Football players usually ignored Emily. She wasn’t the cheerleading, pompom-shaking type, so she couldn’t help feeling excited when Jackson took an interest in her. He was older and much more mature than the boys she dated. He seemed a balm to the misery she was experiencing over the new baby.
It started with smiles and innocent flirting, then sitting on the front porch talking while their parents sat in the kitchen planning the next fishing trip. She knew her mother was watching her and that made her angry. She was old enough to do what she wanted. Her parents didn’t consult her about their lives, so she wouldn’t consult them about hers.
Emily groaned now, a sound of pure disgust. It echoed her feelings about the way she was back then—spoiled and selfish. She left the bathroom and sat in her chair, staring into space. She could remember it all so clearly, could remember sneaking off to the beach to be alone with Jackson. It was wintertime, but they hardly noticed as they laughed, held hands and talked about their lives. He’d just graduated from college and was working in his father’s hardware store. He had a degree in computer science and hoped to work in the computer field, but his father wanted him to take over the family business. He was torn between his family and his dream.
She told him about her plans to become a doctor and how it was all she’d ever wanted to be. Before she knew it, she was head over heels in love and Jackson seemed to feel the same way. She told him things she’d never told anyone else, and making love seemed a natural conclusion to all the tumultuous feelings inside her.
Late at night they would grab a blanket and steal away to the beach to make love and to be with each other. Jackson always used a condom. They knew it was important to be careful, but the night before he left, they made love more than once and used the same condom.
She was so young she didn’t even realize how unwise that was. She only wanted to spend every possible moment with him. That night she cried because he was leaving, but he promised he’d call and he’d come back as soon as he could. Famous last words. She sighed in disbelief at her own innocence.
Of course he never called and he never came back. Every day she’d rush home from school and wait for the phone to ring, but she waited in vain. By the end of January her body began showing signs of something she didn’t even want to think about. She bought a pregnancy test kit and her worst fears were confirmed—she was pregnant.
She didn’t know what else to do, so she called the Talbert Hardware Store in Dallas. Jackson would help her, she kept telling herself. The man who answered the phone said Jackson wasn’t in and claimed he had no idea when he’d be back. She called again the next day and the day after that and always got the same answer. Finally the man, irritated with her many phone calls, told her Jackson had left and wasn’t expected to return. She got the feeling he was lying to her and it hit her that a lot of girls probably called the store looking for Jackson. She realized just how stupid she’d been. Jackson wasn’t going to call and he had no intention of coming back. It was all a line—a line guys used on naive girls like her. Facing the truth was hard, and it was the first grown-up thing she’d had to do in her life.
Her mother was having a difficult time with her pregnancy and had to stay in bed. Emily struggled with how to tell her that she was pregnant, too, but her mother noticed the changes in her. She confronted her one day in the bathroom and Emily admitted she was.
Her mother yelled at her and called her stupid and ignorant, but in the end relented and said she’d take care of everything. Emily didn’t have to worry, she said; an unwanted child wasn’t ruining her life. She went on to say that Emily would have to give the child up for adoption. It simply wasn’t possible for her to keep the baby with college and med school ahead of her, and her parents wouldn’t be able to help because they had their own on the way. Emily had made a mistake and now she had to do the right thing.
She was appalled at what her mother was suggesting, but when she appealed to her father he said she couldn’t upset Rose any more than she already had. There was a chance she might lose her baby. So Emily felt she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t cause her parents any more misery. Dealing with that cold, hard truth was the second adult thing she had to do. She thought of running away, but she’d heard horrible stories of what had happened to girls who’d left home on their own. She became like a robot going through the motions of everyday life and letting her mother take over completely.
Her mother forced her to stay in school. With her grades she would graduate as valedictorian of her class and receive scholarships for college—and she did, just as her mother had planned. Even though Rose grew enormous with her own pregnancy, Emily gained very little weight and was able to hide her expanding waistline with loose-fitting clothes. No one guessed she was hiding a secret.
After graduation, her father whisked her off to San Antonio to live with her mother’s aunt and to wait for the arrival of the baby. She wanted to stay home because her mother’s baby was due in a couple of weeks and she wanted to be there for the birth. But Rose said that Emily was getting too big and people would start talking and Emily needed to be in San Antonio where they’d arranged for the adoption to take place.
She hated living with her great-aunt, who quoted scripture to her so she could see the error of her ways. She spent a lot of time in her room, reading and talking to her child. As the baby grew inside her, so did her motherly instincts. Everything was set for the adoption, but somehow she never really believed it. She just kept hoping she could find a way to keep her child, which only made it harder for her in the end.
Her mother delivered a girl the first week in June and her father called to say they weren’t doing well. Emily pleaded