maybe sunrises are overrated anyway

There was something about a sunrise that always made Summer Saunders smile. 

Maybe it was the warmth that she felt, or the fact that she was a morning person through and through, or maybe it was the fact that it always felt like a clean slate, a fresh start for her, like no matter what mistakes she had made the previous day she could always start new and be better than she was the day before.

And boy, did she need that today.

She hadn’t meant for it to happen like this. Sure she always wanted to be a mother, but not at nineteen years old that just finished her  freshman year in college with the father being her childhood best friend/long time crush that she had hooked up with at her first college party. Drunk, she may add.

She had woken up at 5 AM to head to the store to get a test three towns out because she knew if anyone here found out, it would be the top story on the town’s Facebook group before breakfast. Then she had taken the test in a Target bathroom only to find that it was indeed positive, and while it could have been a false positive, she had some sort of hunch that it wasn’t.

She didn’t know how she was supposed to tell everyone. Her parents, Liam, AKA the father, and everyone else in town when she knew how disappointed everyone was going to be.

She skipped a few rocks and was so zoned out that she completely missed the sound of footsteps on the dock. 

“Summer?”

She jumped at the sound of Liam calling her name, and placed her hand to her heart in shock.

“Liam? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home? It is the first official day of Christmas break, after all.”

Liam sighed and took a few rocks from her pile to skip himself. It was their childhood pastime, skipping rocks and having deep conversations on this very dock.

“I’m worried about you. You’ve been acting weird ever since the party.”

Summer nodded. He wasn’t wrong about that, and he did deserve to know.

“I’m pregnant.”

Liam’s eyes widened and his heart began to race. Never in a million years would he expect for those words to come out of her mouth.

“Y-you’re w-what?!”

Summer’s eyes filled with tears and she began to panic a little at the fear written on Liam’s face. She couldn’t help but cry even though she knew that this whole situation was her fault.

“Sorry that was not how I wanted to tell you, I swear. I wanted to be at a restaurant or at home, or somewhere other than a dock while we’re skipping rocks and pretending that everything’s fine. We were drunk and we made a mistake, mostly me, and now I’m pregnant and if you don’t want to be apart of this, and you want to book it out of town and never talk to me again-”

She was cut off by his lips on hers and she melted into the kiss and just like that, it was like she was sixteen again and the boy of her dreams was finally kissing her. All of her problems floated into thin air and her mind went completely blank. It was magic.

They pulled away and for the first time, Summer actually saw Liam. His eyes were a lot bluer than she imagined, his freckles were framed perfectly on his face, and for some reason, his smile was a lot more attractive than before.

“Liam-”

Liam placed a finger on her chin to tip it upward as he wiped the tears under her eyes away with his thumb. 

“Summer, while I wasn’t in any way shape or form planning on being a father at nineteen, I am here for you, for as long as you want me. I cross my heart and hope to die.”

Summer smiled a sad smile and nodded. 

“What about that kiss? Was it just a kiss? Or was it something more-”

Liam placed his finger on her lips to quiet her.

“More, definitely something more. Look, I was going to wait a few more days and tell you before kissing you under the mistletoe, but I guess now’s as good of a time as ever. I love you, I always have. Funny enough, getting drunk and knocking you up was the best thing that could’ve ever happened.”

The two laughed for hours after that and continued to skip rocks and have deep conversations, because apparently some things never change.

That conversation seems like eons away now, but really it’s only been a year and their daughter Kaylee is three months old now. 

They’re engaged and set to get married soon and for some reason, everything seems perfect and right.

Sure, it wasn’t easy, with Summer’s parents disowning her and her having to sleep on Liam’s couch while working two jobs in the summer months, but she’s as happy as ever.

The moonlight reflected on the water as Summer pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. Kaylee’s been asleep for hours now, but for some reason Summer couldn’t sleep. 

“Summer?”

Just like a year ago, his voice startled her and brought her back to reality. She turned and offered a tired smile to Liam.

“You okay?”

Summer nodded and motioned for him to sit down. This time there were no rocks to skip because if Summer had learned anything that year, it was that some things were just meant to change.

“I just got worried because I saw you were gone when I got up to go to the bathroom, and-“

Summer cut him off with a laugh.

“You’re worry is both very annoying and adorable at the same time. I’m fine I swear. Just reflecting, I promise.”

Liam smiled and nodded. Summer then laid her head on his shoulder and smiled at the beauty of the lake late at night, a scene she had never seen before.

Maybe sunrises were overrated after all.