Father-to-be or Not-to-be

By Adrian Agosto
Staff Writer

Many people like to enjoy life; it is not a statistic but a fact. People enjoy life in many different ways; different hobbies like swimming, biking or hanging out with friends—who put smiles on their faces—and others even enjoy (oddly enough) working. Young people enjoy life by going out to parties, drinking and having sex. But what happens when fun goes too far for young people and they make a mistake that they will have to live with for the rest of their life. Example having a child from a female whom you had a one night stand with!

When I was 17 years old partying seemed to be the only way to enjoy life. Once I was done with work and received my check, I went out the door, into a car, and on my way to a party to get hammered. My friends and I always competed to get the most numbers from the many fine females that would be around. One night, I met this one female, we started to talk; talking led to dancing, dancing led to kissing, and kissing led me to a hotel room.

The next morning my new friend and I woke up, got ready to leave the room and went for breakfast at the hotel. We chit chatted for a while and laughed at stupid jokes. Once breakfast was over we went our separate ways. I knew her name and her phone number but that was all. I didn’t want a relationship with her since I did not respect her as much as a female with whom I would take my time getting to know.

A month had gone by and I was still being a guy/dog. After my night at another party I went home to sleep off everything I had just drank. When I awoke my head felt as if someone hit it with a sledge hammer. As I was trying to get rid of my hangover the phone rang, it was a call from a friend; he told me that one of the girls I hooked up with was pregnant. The phone immediately dropped from my hand and I sat on my bed wondering “what the hell do I do now?” Meanwhile, my friend was trying to get my attention since he was still on the cell phone—really, I didn’t have a care in the world for him at that time; it felt as if someone threw a grenade my way that was seconds from exploding. The main concern of mine was the child on the way in 9 months.

A couple hours had passed, and the friend who told me of the pregnancy was incessantly trying to get into contact with me. I just kept ignoring the calls. I wondered what would be said to her when I made the call to see if what was told to me was true. Finally I got enough confidence to make that phone call that would change my life forever. Fatherhood here I come.

While the phone rang I kept telling myself “I can do this, it’s my mistake and I have to live with it.” The phone stopped ringing and I heard a hello on the other side of the line. It was not a depressed hello; instead, it was a I-am-happy-that-you-called hello. I asked how she was and then dove right into the question in mind, “are you pregnant with my child?” She started to laugh. “Why are you laughing?” I asked, I thought it was cruel to laugh when someone asks such a serious question.

When I heard her response, I took a DEEP breath and screamed “THANK YOU GOD!” It was “no,” she was not pregnant. I told her that a friend had said he had found out she was pregnant and she said no. She never was and was not planning on having a child until she was around 25ish. My heart was beating heavily with joy. That one day scared me half to death so for all those who read this article a few words of advice. Enjoy life to the fullest, never live a moment in regret, but always keep in mind that you have to be prepared to face your consequences for your action.