my only offer

May 2023 - Robert Stanton is 22, Jenny Stanton is 21, Meg is 2 months.

When Jenny had thought about her senior year of college, she pictured parties and friends, flirting with boys and occasionally doing homework. But all of that changed the summer before her senior year when she realized she was pregnant.

Robert was the one who decided what to do. He always has a plan. She moved into his apartment in Providence, just a few blocks off campus, and they got married one fall morning at the courthouse.

It wasn't exactly what she thought her wedding would be like - fat and pregnant, with a sore back and swollen ankles. Instead of a white dress and a wedding party, they got married in their regular clothes in front of Judge Fairchild. She could tell Judge Fairchild didn't really approve of their hasty marriage. Jenny didn't blame her. They were just a couple of kids with a baby on the way, trying to do what was right and hoping things worked out okay.

She went into labor one afternoon while Robert was at work.

She gave birth to a girl who they named Meg. Even though she'd been ambivalent about having the baby, when she held baby Meg in her arms for the first time, she knew she'd do anything for her. Still, being a mother is harder than she had thought. And on top of everything else, she has one more semester before she graduates - a semester full of late nights and bottles, dirty diapers and final projects.

Robert is a big help with the baby. He dotes on "his girls," as he calls them. He's always calm and steady, ready to help whenever she needs him. Somehow she makes it to the end of the semester and graduates. It's a relief to be done with school, but it's also sad - the last vestige of her old life as a carefree college girl is over.