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much as she’d done with Logan.
    Logan. The baby’s father.
    Mom made tea while Julie stood silent, awkward, in her small apartment. After the tea was made, they settled on the couch together.
    “Okay, what is going on, hon?” Mom asked. Julie snuggled in, the little girl and grown woman warring for attention. She wanted her mommy, but then she realized with a start that she was going to be the mom soon enough. If she kept the baby.
    If…she wasn’t sure if she was cut out to be a single mom.
    “Mom, I’m pregnant.”
    Outside of Mom’s gasp, she didn’t react and Julie pressed closer, seeking...something. She felt as if she was being a bit immature, but there was a time where every girl needed her mom and this was most definitely one of those times.
    “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” Mom said, her voice falsely casual.
    “I...wasn’t?” God, she sounded as if she was twelve again, getting caught with cigarettes. Julie wiped a few tears that had fallen, and got up, sitting in her overstuffed serviceable chair. She couldn’t do that, couldn’t press against Mom seeking comfort, not when she was going to be responsible for someone else.
    A child. She was going to have a child. Logan’s child.
    Just like that, she knew that she needed to keep this baby, knew that she had to contact Logan and tell him at least. She couldn’t leave him completely out of the loop. That would be not only unfair, but cruel.
    “Who is he?” Mom asked very quietly. She reached out and held Julie’s hand, then wrapped her arms around Julie, rocking her for a few moments. That embrace helped to soothe Julie, and she started to breathe better the constriction in her chest easing, her panic abating for the moment.
    “Nobody I was dating. I wasn’t dating at all, Mom.” If she was going to do this, she had to be completely honest with her mother. “I met a man at a party, and we clicked in a way I never have before. I think I fell a little in love with him. He took me back to his place, and we had a romantic night together, but it didn’t look...right in the morning. So I left without even telling him goodbye or leaving him a note. I haven’t talked with him since.”
    Mom stayed silent for a minute or two. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said, her eyes wise, her gaze shrewd.
    “He’s not the kind of guy for me, Mom. he’s very…popular with the ladies.” And the men, she added silently. Men wanted to be him, while girls wanted to be with him. Why was it so hard to tell Mom who it was?
    “Is he...known?”
    It wasn’t a strange question to ask; Los Angeles had so many famous people around, that chance encounters sometimes happened.
    “Yes. He’s a football player. Logan Morris.”
    “Oh.” Mom sighed again and shook her head slowly. “Not who I would have imagined. A professional football player, Julie? Really? I wouldn’t have expected you to be with someone of that ilk.”
    “Sorry.”
    “Don’t apologize for anything, honey.” Mom sipped her tea. “Logan Morris. He’s gone to another team, hasn’t he?”
    “Des Moines.”
    “Well, then, you better contact him there. See if he can come home and help you out. You can’t do this alone, whatever your decision is.”
    “I know.” Mom was right, of course. Mom was always right.
    Julie waited until Mom had gone to start her research. Mom was going to break the news to Dad—a major Condors fan—gently. And Julie had a lot to figure out. She hadn’t even considered all her options, couldn’t even let the words form in her head.  
    The Des Moines Harriers front office promised to get her information to Logan, but Julie didn’t believe they’d actually do so. How many people must call every day hoping to talk to a team member.
    But when her home phone rang just before five, Julie lunged for it. She didn’t even check caller ID to see who it was; she instinctively knew that Logan was on the other line, her heart leaping when