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Post by Carter Mead on Mar 26, 2020 17:26:37 GMT -5
On the list of unpleasant things that Carter had done in his life this was, perhaps, near the top. He already knew the sorts of reactions he could expect out of his parents but that didn't mean that he could get out of telling them that he'd gotten Alexa pregnant. Especially not when he had to ask for money for a plane ticket and probably money for an abortion. He'd waited until his roommate was going to be out before he sat down and made the call, dialing his mom's number because she was the one who always picked up first. At this time of day his dad should be around though and he knew that he was going to need it. So when his mom picked up the phone he greeted her. "Hey mom," he said, trying not to think about how disappointed she was going to be. "Is dad around? I need to talk to the two of you about something and it's kind of important." That was an understatement, but there was no need to panic her straight out of the gate - she'd probably get there herself soon enough. It wasn't like he usually just called them up out of the blue and asked to speak to both of them.
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Post by Violet Mead on Mar 26, 2020 17:35:39 GMT -5
Days sometimes went by a bit slowly when Carter and Rachel were away at the Academy. Of course, Veronica was a bit more of a homebody, but even she had her own classes to attend and life to make, so she was out of the house a bit more frequently nowadays. And of course Gabe had his work keeping him busy. Obviously, she didn't just stay home all the time herself - she'd found several places where she could volunteer, and tried to spend as much of her time helping out those various organizations as she could. Still, sometimes she did miss the days when the kids had all been little and she'd cared for them at home, reading stories and playing games. They were growing old, and the older they got, the less active in their lives she could be. Today had been a particularly long day, and she'd just finished doing the dishes when her phone started ringing. Glancing over, she was surprised and immediately mildly concerned when she saw that it was Carter calling, since that really wasn't a common occurrence at all. "Hi sweetie," she greeted her son as she answered the phone, not having a chance to ask him if everything was okay as he quickly asked if his father was around as he needed to talk to both of them about something important. "Hold on," she told him, heading out to the living room where Gabe was sitting and taking a seat next to him on the couch, putting her phone on speaker. "Okay honey, you're on speaker," she told him.
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Post by Gabe Mead on Mar 26, 2020 18:17:24 GMT -5
Gabe's day hadn't been too busy, luckily. He'd had a table read this morning before shooting but a lot of the scenes that were being shot today didn't involve him that much, so he'd mostly just got to hang out with his cast mates and enjoy himself. Then he'd come home and had dinner with Violet and Veronica, asking about their days before going to settle into the living room to watch some tv. Just because he was on a show didn't mean that he didn't like keeping up with other television series. That was short lived however, until Violet came into the living room and put her phone onto speaker. After muting the tv he raised an eyebrow at his wife, wondering who was on the other line - Carter or Rachel? And what could they want? It was his son's voice that came through the speaker though.
"Great, hi dad."
"Hey kid," he answered back, a little skeptically. There had to be some reason why he was calling and it wasn't good, he knew that already.
"You guys remember Alexa, right?" Honestly, Gabe only did vaguely but he now had a sinking feeling he knew where this phone call was going. "Well, uh, we had a bit of an accident and I need money for a plane ticket to bring her to New York so that we can take care of that accident."
At this Gabe glanced at his wife, knowing for sure that she was not going to be happy with this. But then, it wasn't like she could do anything to stop the girl either. He wondered, idly, why Carter had decided to do this on the phone instead of Facetiming them or Skyping but he probably didn't want to look at Violet right now as he asked for a way to bring his girlfriend over to get an abortion.
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Post by Violet Mead on Mar 26, 2020 18:54:18 GMT -5
Although Violet certainly was not expecting good news out of this phone call, there really wasn't much that could have prepared her for the bomb Carter dropped on them after Gabe greeted him. Her face paled as he spoke and she realized the implication of his words, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she slumped back slightly into the couch, distress etched on her features as she looked over at her husband. She didn't think this was a moment she had prepared for as a mother. Maybe she'd been foolish to believe none of her children would become part of teenage pregnancies statistics, but she'd felt they had taught them well. That even though her belief system was different than their own, she had been open with them, to ensure that whatever decision they made, they were safe and responsible while doing it. Of course, accidents happened. And that was what Carter referred to it as. An accident. An accident they now wanted to take care of. Her mind was having a hard time processing that entire sentence, rendering her speechless.
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Post by Carter Mead on Mar 26, 2020 19:34:55 GMT -5
Carter figured that the best strategy was to come out and say things as quickly as possible. Dragging them out wouldn't do anything other than give his mom time to panic. As it turned out, when he did just lay his cards on the table there was silence on the other end. He could imagine what his mom's face looked like - probably the same horrified she'd been the first time he'd sworn in front of her, but he had no clue what is dad's face would look like or what he'd be thinking. He doubted that his dad would have a problem with it though, it wasn't like he had any moral issues with abortion.
Somewhat unsurprisingly his dad was the first person to speak up after a little more silence. "Why do you need to come to New York to do it?" he asked, in the same reasonable way he'd do if he was asking any other question.
"You don't require parental consent in New York," he explained, knowing that it wasn't likely to sit well with his mom either. "And I don't know what Alexa's family situation is, but apparently they won't give it. She doesn't want to be pregnant though. I told her I'd do whatever she wanted and she said this is what she wanted. Can I count on you to help us?"
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Post by Violet Mead on Mar 27, 2020 8:21:54 GMT -5
Violet had learned fairly early on in motherhood that she couldn't force her views of the world on her children, and that they would grow to be their own person with their own set of values. She had hoped, of course, some of them might match up, and for the most part they did. There was no doubt that she was proud of all three of them, of the individuals they were growing into. They had faults, and sometimes she didn't approve of all of their decisions, but it would never change who they were in her eyes. This pill was harder to swallow however. Abortions were hard to condone in her eyes, and the mere abstract thought was somewhat heartbreaking to her. Now, on top of it, she was being asked to assist a young girl in taking that step, a young girl she did not know.
She ran a hand through her hair as she thought the whole situation over. Even without taking in the aspect of the actual procedure, there was a part of her that felt that this was wrong - Alexa was not her child, what right did she have in allowing her to do something her parents would not condone? But then, who was she to turn her away when she had no one to support her in this? She was a child still. There was no doubt in her mind that Carter was not ready to be a father, and this young girl clearly didn't feel ready to be a mother if this was the path she wanted to walk. She was a child who was in her important formative years still, who had a bright future ahead of her, who likely had aspirations and goals that didn't involve dropping out of the Academy so that she could bring a pregnancy to full term in order to give a baby up for adoption. It didn't matter that they'd made a mistake. Everybody made mistakes, but most people weren't made to deal with the consequences in a manner that could very well ruin their future.
Ultimately, it wasn't her choice. And if Alexa truly wanted to go through with this, she would find a way to do it. And without their support, that way might be far more dangerous to her than allowing her to come over to New York so that she could have the pregnancy terminated in a safe, clean environment. "You can," she said finally, her voice sounding a bit odd to her ears as she spoke the words. "I'm taking you off speaker. You can talk the details over with your father, he'll get your flights booked," she went on, taking in a slightly shaky breath. "I love you honey," she told him, handing the phone over to Gabe and getting back to her feet so that she could head up to her bedroom. She somehow felt as though she had made both the right and wrong decision at the same time, and she needed a bit of time to digest it all.
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Post by Carter Mead on Apr 11, 2020 12:10:42 GMT -5
Carter was certain that his dad was going to say yes, and he felt fairly confident that in the end his mom would agree too but he was a little more nervous as he waited for her to say something. When she spoke he let out a sigh of relief, noting that she sounded a bit strange. The fact that she quickly got off of the phone after wasn't really a surprise to him either. "I love you," he answered back.
"Do you have dates?" his dad asked when he was the one on the phone.
"I'll have to talk it over with Alexa to make sure when she can get in, but obviously sooner than later is better," he answered with a sigh. "How upset is mom really?" Involving her in something like this was something that he would have preferred not to do but he also knew that she would have been much more hurt if he had done it without her knowledge. Also he was pretty sure that his dad wouldn't have gone along with it had he suggested it.
There was a pause where he could imagine his dad doing the half shrug that he did when he was unsure of things. "Hard to say," he answered. "You know she's got her religious stuff to contend with." It wasn't something either of them understood or worked with. "Don't worry about it. It's you and Alexa you need to figure out. Talk to her and text me with her ID credentials and I'll book the tickets."
"Alright, I'll text you," he answered, deciding to put his mom's religious problems out of his head. Her part in this was between her and her God and he didn't have any place in that conversation or in that idea. "Thanks dad."
"No problem kid. I love you. Thanks for telling your mom."
"Love you too, talk to you later," he said before hanging up. For a moment he sat in his bed and then he went ahead and shot Alexa a text to ask when she'd be free to go and how they had to set up an appointment. All things considered it went better than he had anticipated.
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