I’d noticed that Ashley didn’t wear an engagement ring, even though Brett’s announcement said otherwise. I doubted their nuptials were as much of a done deal as her dad and Brett thought they were.
Scarlet’s situation was a lot worse than Ashley’s. She’d dated Clay while she was in high school. His family had a lot of land and were cotton farmers. Clay had been a safe date for her in high school because her father approved of him. At least it got her out of the house. Scarlet and Clay had been friends, but she’d never thought of him as more than that. She’d been a virgin when she went off to college.
Scarlet’s parents, especially her father, were very religious Southern Baptists. Her actions and her pregnancy were troublesome to her dad in particular. His best solution was for her to get married as soon as possible and have the husband adopt her little girl. Her dad had focused on Clay as the most likely candidate.
Now, he was pushing Clay on her, but with Scarlet’s dad, it was more of an ultimatum than a ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ suggestion. He’d recently started talking about stopping all support for her unless she married, if not Clay, then someone else, and soon. The ‘Clay’ arrangement was supposed to be for a quick, quiet wedding. Scarlet would live with Clay in a trailer on his parents’ farm until a more permanent arrangement could be made.
Scarlet’s maternal grandfather had set up a trust for her, and she thought it might be substantial. But she wouldn’t see any distributions from the trust until she was married or turned twenty-five. Until then, or until Scarlet got a job where she’d make enough to afford decent daycare for little Carol, she was pretty much dependent on her parents for financial support.
I chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Ashley asked.
“I had a random thought. Last spring, I talked to a psychic, and he told me that I had five kids. I thought he was full of it, but he insisted that I did. It seems his timing was off a bit, but he nailed it if you include my nanny’s son, Little David, whom I consider mine. I’ll have to call the guy and let him know.”
The girls looked at me expectantly to see how I’d taken their stories.
“I have to ask …”
“They’re yours,” Ashley assured me.
“And you’re both 100% sure they’re mine?” I asked.
“We should probably get a DNA test to be sure,” Scarlet admitted. “But don’t tell my daddy or boyfriend. They think what happened was my first and only time.”
“I’m sure,” Ashley said.
At first, I thought she meant I should get the test, and then I realized she was sure that the boys were mine.
“Are you going to be mad when I insist that we confirm paternity?” I asked Ashley.
“No, I’m fine with that. We did ambush you with this,” Ashley said.
I looked at Scarlet, and she nodded her assent to the test.
“How do you think I can help?” I asked.
The girls looked at each other, and I saw Scarlet get brave.
“I need some money,” Scarlet came right out and said.
“You, too?” I asked Ashley.
“I’m living with my parents, and I can’t see how I can raise the boys and live on my own. Like Scarlet, I also have a trust that doesn’t kick in for a while. I need some way to keep going until that time,” Ashley confirmed.
I nodded and then looked at my watch. It was almost three in the morning.
“I need to get some sleep. I’ve got to meet with the Alabama people tomorrow, but I’ll figure out some way for us to sit down and talk about all this. Meanwhile, I want you both to think about what’s realistic and how you think I might be able to help. I know right now that I want to be a part of those little kids’ lives if they’re mine. I’ve just been hit with this, and I’m not sure what the best way to handle it is.
“What I
I decided to add something I felt deep down.
“And I also want you to understand how I feel about your decisions after you found out you were pregnant.”
I looked at the two of them, and they both looked down.
“Eyes on me,” I said, and waited until they looked up. “You made some difficult decisions in trying times, and you decided to keep your babies. You kept it together and managed to graduate.”
“I would rather you’d felt that you could come to me sooner and allowed me to be involved in your decisions, but I understand your reasons why you didn’t. I also want you to know that I think you made all the right decisions. They were good decisions.
“There are a lot of questions that have to be answered and a lot that needs to be sorted out, but I’m glad I’m now part of that process. I’m sure you need to think about all this, and I will need to fill my family in,” I said. The girls were now nodding with me.
I smiled.
“This will all work out. Now, let’s all get some sleep so we can keep making good choices.”
