Timika Banks

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER

                                    The proverb “Blood is thicker than water” means

                                    no matter what happens, family will be there

                                    when friends are not.

I am pregnant at fifteen years old

and I didn’t know how to tell my mother.

I was at school one day and someone

called and told my mother that I was pregnant.

When I went home that day I took a nap.

My mother woke me up and said

someone called and told me that you’re pregnant,

and she wanted to know if it was true.

I said I didn’t know.

Later she said that she thought

I could come to her

and that she wouldn’t have to hear it

from someone else.

She took me to the clinic

and, after 101 questions,

I took the pregnancy test.

They told me I was pregnant.

My mother stayed with me and

said she would support me

in any decision I made.

I don’t believe in abortion

because that is killing a human being.

So I decided to have the baby.

My mother will share custody of the baby

with me and help me. My friends

thought it was cute that I was pregnant,

but my mother stepped in and supported me.

Family stays with you

through rough times,

even if they don’t agree

with your decision.

Now time has passed and I’m six months

into my pregnancy. School’s become different.

I’m one out of hundreds of kids pregnant.

Many kids just stare at me,

wondering, is she really pregnant,

while others ask me.

No one has made me feel uncomfortable.

But there are many times I sit back

and just want to cry ’cause

I’m having a baby and

I don’t know what to expect

for trouble in life with the baby.

But I do know I’ll be there to do my best

with the help of my family and the baby’s father.

Since January, when I first felt my baby move,

I knew that this was no joke, and even now

I lay down at night, twisting and turning

’cause the baby is kicking me.

It’s hard trying to sleep with something

moving around in your stomach.

I must say, no one can understand my situation

until they live it as a teenager.

But I still believe that having this baby

is the right thing to do.